Point Broadband Fiber Holding, LLC, a provider of high speed fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) internet services to residential and business customers in select small town and rural markets in the U.S., on Feb. 15 announced it will receive a significant growth investment from funds affiliated with Berkshire Partners, leveraging the major private investment firm's deep experience in digital infrastructure.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Opelika, Alabama, Point Broadband today serves approximately 75,000 customers and is growing, primarily in rural areas and small city communities in nine states. The company says it focuses on providing multi-gigabit fiber internet connectivity solutions to homes and businesses "at the speeds needed to be successful and competitive in today’s connected world."
Point Broadband is backed by GTCR, a leading private equity firm, which made a strategic investment in the business in 2021. Since that time, the company has added over 100,000 additional fiber passings and entered two new states.
Todd Holt, CEO of Point Broadband, commented:
“As we continue to prioritize growth and extend access to our 100 percent fiber optic internet service, the sector expertise and resources Berkshire Partners brings in digital infrastructure are the perfect fit to help expand our reach and bring quality service to customers in underserved markets. Together with our continued partnership with GTCR, this investment will accelerate the deployment of our all-fiber Gigabit broadband solutions to a wider array of residential and business customers in rural communities.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Beth Hoffman and Drew Walker, Managing Directors at Berkshire Partners, jointly stated:
“We believe that access to reliable high speed broadband is a fundamental underpinning of economic opportunity. We are thrilled to be partnering with Todd and his team, alongside GTCR, as Point Broadband expands its fiber-based internet access and exceptional customer service to many more underserved communities across the U.S.”
Bank Street Group LLC served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Point Broadband and GTCR. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal advisor to Berkshire Partners.
Stephen Jeschke, managing director at GTCR, concluded:
“Point Broadband has achieved impressive growth since we first partnered with the team in early 2021, and it continues to deliver excellent local service to its customers. This additional investment will significantly increase the Company’s ability to bring critical fiber-based broadband access to underserved rural communities across the nation.”