TYLER (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - Suddenlink Communications is being sold to two international companies, but representatives claim the cable provider will continue to be led by its current management team so the buyout will not affect jobs, customers, services or operations.
Cequel Communications Holdings LLC, which does business as Suddenlink Communications, announced July 18 that it and its existing equity holders reached an agreement with BC Partners and CPP Investment Board to buy the company for $6.6 billion, according to a prepared statement received today by the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Suddenlink Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Kent will continue to lead the company.
Pete Abel, senior vice president, corporate communications, said today that it is a management-led buyout, which means the current management team will continue to operate the company. He said the sale will have no affect on jobs, customers, services or operations.
The transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.
BC Partners is a private equity firm with advised funds of $15.5 billion. Established in 1986, it has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for 25 years. BC Partners executives operate as an integrated team through its offices in Europe and North America, acquiring and developing businesses to create value in partnership with management, according to a prepared statement.
CPP Investment Board is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to buy current benefits on behalf of 18 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. CPP Investment Board invests in public and private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. The company is based in Toronto and has offices in London and Hong Kong, according to the statement.
Abel said there are more than 1,000 Suddenlink employees in Tyler.
In December, Suddenlink officials reported that the company added 130 jobs in Tyler in 2011, bringing the cable company's total employee base here to more than 1,275. Suddenlink has two call center facilities in Tyler.
The company employs about 2,900 employees in Texas and about 6,000 nationwide. Suddenlink is the third-largest company of its kind in Texas, offering cable TV, high-speed Internet, phone, security and other services. Suddenlink is the seventh-largest cable system provider in the country and the leading television and Internet service provider in its markets, according to a prepared statement.
