OptiComm snapped up by Uniti for $532m

Private fibre network operator OptiComm will be acquired by Uniti Group for $532 million in cash and shares.

Uniti said in a financial filing [pdf] that the buyout comprised a cash component of $407 million, with the remaining amount made up in Uniti shares.

Some of the cash would come from a capital raising, with the remainder drawn down from a new debt facility.

Each OptiComm shareholder will also receive 10 cents a share fully franked special dividend, subject to the acquisition going through.

Uniti said that OptiComm offered a “complementary core greenfield fibre-to-the premises network”, and that fixed-line network expertise would be useful to Uniti as it chased retirement living projects, as well as for “community and commercial precinct adjacencies”.

It saw a “significant opportunity to expand fibre network products and capability into enterprise and business segment markets”.

OptiComm has 70,500 active FTTP customers and another 150,000 under contract in its build pipeline.

OptiComm has traditionally been the largest deployer of private FTTP infrastructure to homes in new estates and to new apartment blocks.

Uniti Group listed on the ASX early last year and has traditionally been a significant player in the wireless telecommunications space.