Wave Completes $50 Million Black Rock Cable Acquisition

KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaveDivision Holdings (www.wavebroadband.com), a business-class fiber optic and broadband services company with business and residential customers in Washington, Oregon, and California, today announced that it has completed a $50 million acquisition of Black Rock Cable. Based in Bellingham, WA, Black Rock provides high-capacity fiber optic connectivity services in Northwest Washington state, including Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties, to hundreds of large public and private sector commercial customers in government, medical, aerospace, communications, manufacturing and other regionally-based industries, all sharing a need for high-performance broadband.

“This is a particularly important acquisition for Wave, as Black Rock’s proven expertise in dealing with commercial and wholesale clients greatly strengthens our enterprise business, while extending Wave’s dark fiber network from the Canadian border down the West Coast to the San Francisco DMA”

Wave, a provider of video, internet and phone services for nearly 400,000 residential and commercial customers in Washington, Oregon, and California, recently raised more than $1 billion in funding to support the company’s continued growth. Formed in 2003 by CEO Steve Weed, Wave has established a reputation for high-quality service, growing both organically and by network expansion and acquisitions.

“This is a particularly important acquisition for Wave, as Black Rock’s proven expertise in dealing with commercial and wholesale clients greatly strengthens our enterprise business, while extending Wave’s dark fiber network from the Canadian border down the West Coast to the San Francisco DMA,” said Steve Weed, Wave CEO. “Connecting the Wave network to Black Rock’s thousands of miles of fiber infrastructure adds to Wave’s already asset-rich, high-capacity business and stands to enable better services for both new and existing customers.”

According to Weed, both companies have a history of delivering exceptional products and unsurpassed service to customers and this transaction reinforces Wave’s business strategy of expanding through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. Wave plans to retain all of Black Rock’s 21 employees, while Black Rock customers will continue to receive high levels of service under the Black Rock brand. Additionally, Black Rock customers will now have the additional support of Wave’s Network Operations team.

Milissa Miller, Vice President of Operations for Black Rock, added, “In the past years, our partnership with Wave allowed both of our companies the ability to offer customers end-to-end connections between Seattle and the Canadian border. The synergy of Wave’s services and our dark fiber network now enable our customers to benefit from the extended network in order to expand their clientele and offer a wider range of industry-leading services.”

The company says the transaction, which closed at the end of 2012, will not impact Black Rock customers or employees. Services will continue without interruption as operations continue to be merged with Wave.

About WaveDivision Holdings

WaveDivision Holdings, LLC is a cable and broadband services company providing advanced cable TV, true high-speed Internet and Phone services to nearly 400,000 residential and business customers in the communities, and surrounding suburbs, of the Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Sacramento markets. Wave is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. Owned and operated by local industry leaders, Wave supports its customers with decades of cable know-how. Serving customers under two retail brand names, Wave Broadband in the Seattle, Portland and Sacramento DMAs, and Astound in the San Francisco DMA - the company’s mission is to provide all customers with the latest technologies and upgrades. Wave was recently recognized by CableFAX Magazine with the prestigious Independent Cable Operator of the Year award. Wave also debuted on PC Magazine’s 2012 list of Top 10 Fastest ISPs in the nation. The company’s Business Solutions division delivers redundant fiber rings that serve local governments and businesses of all sizes, including well-known Fortune 100 companies and brands, with major fiber hubs in West Coast markets. For more information about WaveDivision Holdings, visit www.wavebroadband.com or www.astound.net.