Uniti, With Macquarie Help, Buying Midwest Fiber From Bluebird for $319M
Uniti Group agreed to acquire Bluebird Network fiber through a partnership with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, Uniti and Bluebird said Tuesday. Bluebird has 178,000 fiber strand miles in the Midwest across Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Oklahoma. Uniti will buy Bluebird’s fiber…
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network for $319 million, and Macquarie will acquire Bluebird operations for an undisclosed price. Uniti agreed to sell operations of its existing Midwest fiber to Macquarie, and will lease that fiber and Bluebird’s fiber to Macquarie for $20.3 million annually with a 20-year initial term and multiple renewal options, it said. It’s expected to close by the end of Q3, subject to regulatory OKs and other customary conditions, Uniti said. “The deal structure can be replicated with other operating partners in the future and today’s announcement lays the foundation for similar transactions,” Uniti CEO Kenny Gunderman said. Uniti is weighing sale of its Latin America tower business after getting inquiries from unnamed third parties for the company’s 500 towers in Mexico, Colombia and Nicaragua. Such a move would let Uniti focus on the U.S., Gunderman said.