Acquisition of FirstLight Fiber Completed

Today, Oak Hill Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of FirstLight Fiber, which will support its continued growth. Oak Hill acquired the company from private equity owner Riverside Partners, which is also investing in the deal and will continue as a minority investor in FirstLight. During Riverside’s investment period, FirstLight expanded its fiber route miles from 199 miles to over 2,500 miles and today operates a network of nearly 275,000 fiber miles with over 2,000 on-net locations and 14,000 near-net buildings.

“The acquisition of FirstLight is a key component of Oak Hill’s strategy,” commented Benjy Diesbach, a Partner at Oak Hill.  “FirstLight’s strong history as a leading fiber provider in the Northeast and its positive momentum were a few reasons we identified the company as an attractive platform.  We welcome the opportunity to support and guide FirstLight in its next stage of growth.”

“Oak Hill is a highly respected private equity firm, and I speak for myself as well as the other members of FirstLight in saying that we’re excited to become an Oak Hill portfolio company,” stated Kurt Van Wagenen, President and Chief Executive Officer of FirstLight. “Oak Hill provides the expertise and financial resources we need at this stage, and together, our potential to continue to meet our customers’ growing connectivity needs is limitless. We also thank Riverside Partners for their support and guidance along this path.”

The Bank Street Group LLC served as FirstLight’s exclusive financial advisor in connection with this transaction. Choate Hall & Stewart served as legal counsel to FirstLight in connection with this transaction. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal counsel to Oak Hill. TD Securities (USA) served as financial advisor to Oak Hill. Financial terms of the completed transaction were not disclosed.

Click here to read the full press release.