Grain Management to buy Florida’s Summit Broadband

Aug. 19, 2019
The purchase, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year.

Grain Management, LLC, a private equity firm focused on communications, says it has agreed to buy a majority interest in Summit Vista, Inc., doing business as Summit Broadband, a fiber-optics telecommunications services provider in Florida. Grain will acquire the stake from Cable Bahamas Ltd. for an undisclosed sum. The purchase, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year. Deutsche Bank provided committed debt financing for the transaction.

Summit Broadband serves customers in Central and Southwest Florida via a fiber-optic network of more than 1800 fiber route miles. In operation since 1994, the company offers voice, video, data, and high-speed internet to residential and commercial customers, as well as Ethernet and dark fiber to enterprise and carrier customers.

"Summit has an impressive history of serving businesses across multiple industries and residential customers in central and southwest Florida communities," said David Grain, founder and CEO of Grain Management. "As a global investor in the industry, Grain is poised to partner with Summit in advancing its position as a leading fiber-optic telecommunications provider, and aid in the expansion of these services in an increasingly smart and connected world."

The deal’s announcement today comes a week after Grain announced it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Ritter Communications, an independent telecommunications services provider with operations in Tennessee and Arkansas. The equity firm also owns a stake in Great Plains Communications, which closed its own purchase of InterCarrier Networks earlier this month.

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