Consolidated Communications Holdings to be acquired by two private-equity firms

Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc.
CNSL,
+17.54%
said Monday it agreed to be taken private by affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners LP and British Columbia Investment Management Corp in an all-cash deal that values the Mattoon, Ill.-based broadband company at $3.1 billion. Consolidated Communications said the two private-equity firms will pay $4.70 a share for the roughly 66% of the company’s stock that they do not already own. The purchase price values the company at a 70% premium to its closing price on April 12, the last trading day prior to the submission of Searchlight and BCI’s initial non-binding proposal to the company’s board of directors. The proposed transaction has been unanimously approved by a special committee of independent and disinterested directors of the company’s board. The deal is expected to close by the first quarter of 2025. The company’s stock closed at $3.53 a share on Friday, and is down 1.4% in 2023, compared to a 28.1% jump by the Nasdaq
COMP,
+0.52%
over the same time period.