News Release Article Detail

Consolidated Communications to Acquire Illinois-based Champaign Telephone Company

Deal would add 275 fiber route miles, 310 lit buildings, 1,500 business customers

Mattoon, Ill. – April 18, 2016 — Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSL) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Champaign Telephone Company (CTC) and its sister company, Big Broadband Services, a private business communications provider in the Champaign-Urbana, Ill. area.  

“We are excited to welcome CTC customers to the Consolidated Communications family and look forward to building upon the strong business Mike and his team have built in the greater Champaign-Urbana, Ill. area,” said Bob Udell, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Communications.  “This acquisition would add 275 fiber route miles and 310 lit buildings to our existing fiber network which extends to Champaign, Ill., a community located just 50 miles north from our Mattoon, Ill. headquarters.  It’s a great fit with our focus on expanding our fiber network and commercial services”

“CTC’s joining Consolidated Communications will create a highly competitive company with increased resources, expertise and an expanded portfolio of commercial services that will benefit CTC customers,” said Mike Hosier, owner of CTC.  “I believe this agreement will take CTC customers to the next level and provide important benefits to the community as well.”

CTC began in 1984 as a small PBX provider and has grown into a regional leader in Internet, Voice, Metro Ethernet, and Hosted VoIP provider.  CTC serves approximately 1,500 business customers over 310 fiber-lit buildings.  CTC recorded fiscal 2015 revenue of approximately $10 million, the majority of which is recurring service revenue.  

The agreement provides for an all cash transaction valued at $13.0 million.  The closing is subject to standard closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016.  

About Consolidated Communications
Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. is a leading broadband and business communications provider throughout its 11-state service area.  The Company leverages its advanced fiber optic network and multiple data centers to offer a wide range of communications solutions, including data, voice, video, managed services, cloud computing and wireless backhaul.  Headquartered in Mattoon, IL, the Company has been providing services in many of its markets for more than a century. 

Safe Harbor  
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) encourages companies to disclose forward-looking information so that investors can better understand a company’s future prospects and make informed investment decisions.  Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, our current expectations, plans, strategies, and anticipated financial results.  There are a number of risks, uncertainties, and conditions that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties include a number of factors related to our business, including economic and financial market conditions generally and economic conditions in our service areas; various risks to shareholders of not receiving dividends and risks to our ability to pursue growth opportunities if we continue to pay dividends according to the current dividend policy; various risks to the price and volatility of our common stock; changes in the valuation of pension plan assets; the substantial amount of debt and our ability to repay or refinance it or incur additional debt in the future; our need for a significant amount of cash to service and repay the debt and to pay dividends on the common stock; restrictions contained in our debt agreements that limit the discretion of management in operating the business; regulatory changes, including changes to subsidies, rapid development and introduction of new technologies and intense competition in the telecommunications industry; risks associated with our possible pursuit of acquisitions; system failures; losses of large customers or government contracts; risks associated with the rights-of-way for the network; disruptions in the relationship with third party vendors; losses of key management personnel and the inability to attract and retain highly qualified management and personnel in the future; changes in the extensive governmental legislation and regulations governing telecommunications providers and the provision of telecommunications services; telecommunications carriers disputing and/or avoiding their obligations to pay network access charges for use of our network; high costs of regulatory compliance; the competitive impact of legislation and regulatory changes in the telecommunications industry; and liability and compliance costs regarding environmental regulations. A detailed discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from such forward-looking statements are discussed in more detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.  Many of these circumstances are beyond our ability to control or predict.  Moreover, forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions on our part.  These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “should,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue” or similar expressions.  Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.  All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements that appear throughout this press release.  Furthermore, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made.  Except as required under the federal securities laws or the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements.  You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

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