Alphabet sells fiber unit to private equity; merges Astound Broadband
On March 12-14, the US-based internet service provider GFiber was sold by its parent company Alphabet and merged with cable-and-firm firm Stonepeak's subsidiary. The new entity will be majority owned by private equity investor Ston while retaining a significant minority stake in Google Fiber business unit called Astound Broadband as part of this joint venture deal between these two companies for the creation of an independent broadband provider led by existing GFiber executives who are now managing operations under their own leadership structure following Alphabet's decision to spin out its...
Key Points
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1Google Fiber has been sold to private equity firm Stonepeak in exchange for merging it into Astound Broadband.
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2The two companies are combining their operations under a new joint venture structure that will operate as an independent broadband provider.
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3Alphabet and Google have retained only minority stakes, with the majority ownership transferred directly to investment firms like Ston.
Developments
Perspectives
Google Fiber is being sold to private equity firm StonPeak in an agreement that involves merging with Astound Broadband. The new company will be a single cohesive internet provider owned primarily by the investment firms.
— [Mar 12, 03:16] Google spins off GFiber... (Techmeme)Google Fiber is being sold to private equity firm StonPeak and combined with Astound Broadband. Alphabet will keep only a minority stake in this new merged Internet service provider.
— [Mar 12, 03:57] Google Fiber will be sold... (Arstechnica)Alphabet is spinning out its US business by combining it with Astound Broadband as part of a joint venture. The resulting entity remains an independent broadband provider.
— [Mar 12, 03:57] Google spins off GFiber... (Techmeme)Alphabet has sold Google Fiber (now renamed) to private equity firm Stonepeak, which will merge it with Astound Broadband into an independent fiber provider majority-owned by investors. The deal is expected close in Q4 of this year and aims for GFiber's operational independence while leveraging combined network footprints from both companies' existing infrastructure teams.
Alphabet (Google) plans to spin out the US Google Fiber business into an independent joint venture with private equity firm Stonepeak by merging it with Astound Broadband. Alphabet will remain a significant minority shareholder while allowing external capital from its partners, led primarily by investors in this transaction and expected close date is Q4 2017