Frontier Communications to sell Northwest holdings for $1.3B

EVERETT — Landline phone, TV and internet provider Frontier Communications on Wednesday said it will sell its Pacific Northwest assets for more than $1.3 billion to a private-equity partnership involving former executives of Wave Broadband.

The deal would affect some 350,000 residential and business customers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana but won’t close until later this year, after regulatory approval. The new owners said no immediate changes are planned that would affect customers or regional Frontier employees.

The purchasers are Kirkland-based WaveDivision Capital and Searchlight Capital Partners, which has offices in New York, London and Toronto.

“Our plan is to invest further in our markets, specifically by extending fiber to more homes and businesses, to bring them the high speeds they want,” WaveDivision Capital founder and CEO Steven Weed said in a news release. “We grew up in this area, started and ran successful businesses here, and are excited to be able to continue to serve our community through this acquisition.”

For Frontier, the cash deal helps reduce debt, the company said in a news release. Frontier said it will continue to operate the business and serve customers with existing products and services until the transaction closes.

The sale is subject to regulatory approval by the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Weed was founder and CEO of Wave Broadband, a West Coast internet provider that was sold in 2018 for $2.3 billion.

Frontier is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, and the company’s Western Washington headquarters is in Everett.