WaveDivision Holdings, which operates as cable operator Wave Broadband, announced this morning that it raised more than $1 billion in funding.
The funding included substantial equity investments from Oak Hill Capital Partners and GI Partners, as well as a new bank and high-yield debt financings led by Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo.
Wave Broadband, which serves triple-play and business customers in Washington, Oregon and California, said it would use the new funds to recapitalize the company and build out its West Coast broadband and fiber-optic network.
Kirkland, Wash.-based Wave operates under the Wave Broadband and Wave Business Solutions brands in the greater Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Sacramento markets, and as Astound Broadband and Astound Business Solutions in the greater San Francisco market.
Wave currently has more than 800 employees and nearly 400,000 business and residential broadband, phone and video customers.
In June, GI Partners, Oak Hill Capital Partners and WaveDivision CEO Steve Weed, along with members of his management team, announced a deal to buy Wave Broadband.
“This is an exciting milestone for Wave. Throughout the past decade, we’ve provided our customers with unmatched service and support, exceptional value, and the industry’s most innovative broadband products and services,” Weed said. “Customer satisfaction drives everything we do, and we are very pleased to have two highly regarded investment partners in Oak Hill Capital Partners and GI Partners. They both share our belief in this approach, and they are committed to working with us as we expand and improve our fiber-optic network in markets that are ideally suited to our strengths.”
Last week, Wave announced it had hired former Sunflower Broadband and Synacor executive Patrick Knorr as its executive vice president of IP and business services. Tim Klinefelter also joined Wave as executive vice president of broadband services, overseeing all regional operations and Radio Frequency (RF) engineering.
Former Cox Communications executive Colette Jelineo was hired as the company’s chief marketing officer, while Wave’s former chief marketing officer, Arah Peck, was named the company’s executive vice president of strategic development. In addition, longtime Wave COO Steve Friedman was promoted to the position of president and COO.
