Ripple Fiber’s HyperFiber acquisition advances its fiber network reach

Greg Wilson, who founded Ripple Fiber, will continue to serve as CEO of the combined company under the Ripple Fiber brand. At the same time, HyperFiber’s CEO, Dan Kennedy, transitions to being Ripple Fiber’s Executive Chairman.

Wilson said what was attractive about HyperFiber was the company's experience in building fiber broadband networks.

“This was planned for a long time,” he said. “Dan Kennedy and his team were successful in the US market, building i3 Broadband and selling it, and we liked coming into the U.S. with a team that had done it before.”  

He added that merging the two companies was centered on a broader growth strategy to enter more markets with its fiber broadband service by aligning network building and internal operations.

“We said that when the two businesses were doing things the same way, we knew it was time to put them together,” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of synergy in both business costs regarding building cadence.”

Focus on scale

A key focus of the acquisition is scale.

HyperFiber has been installing fiber in parts of Arkansas, Colorado, and Florida. The company’s most recent project was in St. Petersburg, Florida, to connect 23,000 homes.

By officially consolidating under the Ripple Fiber brand, Ripple said it has created the structure to support its plan to build 1.2 million new passings across 15 states over the next five years.

Wilson said what differentiates it from the growing pack of competitive fiber broadband providers is that it reaches multiple markets simultaneously.

“Most of the fiber players have focused on one geographic region with one overlapping into a second state,” he said. “They typically get boxed in from a territory perspective to grow out the passings, so we have made sure from the start of the business to be on a multi-state strategy.”

This approach allows Ripple to build out millions of locations, particularly in markets with few broadband options.  

Between HyperFiber and Ripple, the new company will have network services in nine states, with another four to five coming later this year.

Each company became a specialist in different territories. The merger enabled them to centralize functions at the head office and decentralize to expand to new territories.

“This will give us the territory we need to scale the business and build something substantial,” Wilson said.

Ongoing growth investments

With acquiring HyperFiber, Ripple will pursue a mix of organic network builds and targeted acquisitions.

While organic builds are its priority, Wilson hinted that other acquisitions of fiber providers are in play.

“Organic growth is our primary strategy, but there will be acquisitions that make sense as we grow out,” Wilson said. “There are a couple we’re working on at the moment that we will bring to market in the next two months that could augment our footprint and team.”

However, Wilson emphasized that “we’re not in the mode of buying new fiber passings because we have a strategic focus for each acquisition we do.”

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