Recent Mergers & Acquisitions In The Communications Industry
Mergers & Acquisitions: Green Hills Telephone Cooperative Purchasing Citizens Telephone Company & Citizens Long Distance Company of Higginsville, Missouri
June 8, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking comment on an application filed by Citizens Communications Corporation (CCC), Citizens Telephone Company of Higginsville, Missouri (CTC), Citizens Long Distance Company (CLD) and Green Hills Telephone Corporation (Green Hills) requesting consent to transfer control of CTC and CLD to Green Hills. More specifically, the application requests FCC consent for the transfer of control of the domestic Section 214 authority held by CTC, and the domestic and international Section 214 authority held by CLD, to Green Hills pursuant to a Share Purchase and Sale Agreement. Pursuant to that Agreement, dated as of May 7, 2020, Green Hills will acquire all of the stock of CTC and CLD from CCC. Comments on the application are due on or before June 22, 2020, and reply comments are due June 29, 2020.
CCC, headquartered in Higginsville, Missouri, is the parent holding company of CTC and CLD, owning all of the outstanding capital stock of CTC and CLD. CTC, a rural telephone company and incumbent local exchange carrier headquartered in Higginsville, Missouri, provides local exchange service and broadband Internet access service in the Higginsville exchange in Lafayette County in west central Missouri. CTC serves approximately 2,300 access lines, and has elected to receive high-cost Universal Service Fund support under the Alternative Connect America Cost Model II. CLD is an interexchange service provider also headquartered in Higginsville, Missouri, that offers resold domestic and international long distance services. Citizens Cablevision, Inc., a cable service provider headquartered in Higginsville, Missouri, is also a wholly owned subsidiary of CCC, and will also be acquired by Green Hills in the transaction.
Green Hills is a rural telephone cooperative and ILEC headquartered in Breckenridge, Missouri. Green Hills is 100% owned by its members, with no member owning 10% or greater of the company. Green Hills serves approximately 2,400 access lines, and has elected to receive high-cost USF support under ACAM-II. Green Hills offers resold domestic and international long distance services through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Hills Communications, Inc. Green Hills also offers broadband Internet access service through GH Communications under the doing business as name Green Hills Technologies.
**********
Bankrupt Lifeline Provider TAG Mobile Being Purchased Indirectly By Parent Company Of Q Link Wireless
May 28, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking comment on an application filed by TAG Mobile, LLC, TAG Mobile Bankruptcy Sale Entity, LLC, and Vector Holdings Group LLC, requesting consent to transfer control of TAG Bankruptcy Entity to Vector. TAG Mobile, a Texas limited liability company, provides resold domestic interexchange services and wireless commercial mobile radio service to customers in 19 states. It holds international and blanket domestic Section 214 authority and has been designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier to provide Lifeline services. Vector is a Delaware limited liability company which was created to acquire TAG Mobile. Vector is wholly owned by Quadrant Holdings Group LLC, a U.S. corporation, which wholly owns Q Link Wireless, LLC, a Lifeline provider that offers service in multiple states. TAG Mobile and Vector have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Vector will acquire 100 percent of the membership interests in TAG Bankruptcy Entity. Comments on the application are due on or before June 11, 2020, and reply comments are due June 18, 2020.
**********
Mergers & Acquisitions: BHT Investments, LLC Purchasing Alaskan ILEC Bush-Tell, Inc.
May 12, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking comment on an application filed by William Douglas DeVore (Mr. DeVore) and BHT Investments, LLC (BHTI) requesting consent to transfer control of Bush-Tell, Inc. (Bush-Tell) from Mr. DeVore to BHT. Comments are due on or before May 26, 2020, and reply comments are due June 2, 2020.
Bush-Tell is an incumbent local exchange carrier that serves a single study area in southwestern Alaska containing approximately 555 access lines in ten village exchanges: Aniak, Anvik, Crooked Creek, Grayling, Holy Cross, Kalskag, Red Devil, Shageluk, Sleetmute, and Stony River. Bush-Tell provides residential and business local exchange telephone service and interstate exchange access in all ten exchanges. It also provides Internet access service in six of the exchanges – Aniak, Anvik, Grayling, Holy Cross, Kalskag, and Shageluk. Mr. DeVore currently owns 100% of Bush-Tell’s issued and outstanding stock.
BHTI, a Wyoming limited liability company, is a holding company that does not directly provide any domestic telecommunications services. BHTI was established in 2014 to acquire and manage telecommunications and telecommunications-related investments. BHT Investment Holdings, LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company, is the parent company of BHTI and does not directly provide any telecommunications services. The proposed transaction involves the sale by Mr. DeVore of 100 percent of the issued and outstanding stock of Bush-Tell to BHTI. Completion of the transaction will give BHTI control of Bush-Tell, including its Domestic Section 214 authorization.
**********
Mergers & Acquisitions: Missouri Network Alliance Purchasing Illinois Network Alliance
February 1, 2020 – The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau has invited comments on an application to transfer control of Illinois Network Alliance, LLC to Missouri Network Alliance, LLC d/b/a Bluebird Network (MNA). Comments are due on or before February 14, 2020, and reply comments are due February 21, 2020. The Illinois Network Alliance is owned jointly by 10 rural communications companies in Illinois, and was created in 2009 to build and operate a fiber network for the provision of transport and Internet services to wholesale customers in Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. MNA was founded in 1999 by 15 rural communications companies in Missouri to build and operate a fiber network for the provision of transport and Internet services to wholesale and enterprise customers in Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. MNA also provides tandem switching and transport services for interexchange carriers in Missouri. MNA holds a 10 percent membership interest in Illinois Network Alliance, and pursuant to an operating services agreement, MNA manages much of Illinois Network Alliance’s day-to-day business operations. MNA is owned by MIP IV MidWest Fiber, LLC, which is indirectly controlled through a number of holding companies by Macquarie Group Limited, a publicly traded company incorporated in Australia.
**********
