Hargray Communications has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Charter Communications’ Beaufort County cable system in South Carolina that serves about 7,000 subscribers.
The deal, which is subject to closing conditions, is slated to close by June 30. Hargray, which provides triple-play cable services and phone services, already serves customers in Jasper and Hampton counties in South Carolina and in Chatham County in Georgia.
“Acquiring Charter’s system in Beaufort will enable us to efficiently expand our footprint and bring our full suite of advanced services to areas in Beaufort we have heretofore been unable to serve,” said Michael Gottdenker, Hargray’s chairman and CEO. “Combined with our recent fiber investments in downtown Savannah, this transaction will generate meaningful revenue and earnings growth well into the future.”
RBC Capital Markets is acting as the exclusive mergers and acquisitions advisor to Charter Communications on the transaction.
“The significant investments we have made in our network and products over the last several years will enable us to deliver additional services to Charter’s Beaufort customers,” said Andrew Rein, Hargray’s vice president of sales and marketing. “This will include faster Internet service, more HD channels, movies on-demand, and the opportunity to bundle unlimited nationwide telephone service with Internet and television services.
“Further, businesses served by Charter will be able to purchase advanced business communications services, including dedicated symmetrical Internet, Metro Ethernet and business-grade IP voice services from Hargray.”
The Quadrangle Group bought Hargray in 2007 for an undisclosed sum.