Horizon Acquires Consolidated Cooperative's Commercial Fiber Business

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Horizon, a fiber-optic broadband company operating out of Columbus, Ohio, announces today that it has acquired Consolidated Cooperative's commercial fiber business to expand its Midwest footprint and better meet the needs of its growing customer base. The acquisition adds 450 miles of fiber into Horizon's existing Columbus network and extends it north through Delaware, Marion and Richland counties. Consolidated will retain its residential fiber internet services.

Consolidated Cooperative serves more than 18,000 consumers in Central Ohio with electric, gas, and fiber internet services. Consolidated initiated its commercial fiber services in 2009. Its separate residential fiber internet business was launched in 2017.

"Horizon remains committed to expanding its network capabilities and geographic reach in order to continue meeting the evolving communications and connectivity needs of businesses and communities throughout the Midwest," says James Capuano, Chief Executive Officer of Horizon. "Consolidated's proven ability to deliver ultra-high-speed broadband internet and data services with high levels of performance, availability, flexibility and redundancy affirms that these infrastructure assets will deliver exactly the next-gen capabilities organizations are looking for. We're excited to supplement our existing capabilities and make this mutually beneficial step toward a more connected future." 

"The enterprise fiber business has exceeded our goals and expectations for it, which were primarily to improve our electric operations, set us up to offer broadband internet service in the future, and help to pay for all that by selling capacity to third parties," says Phil Caskey, Consolidated Cooperative President and CEO. "At this juncture, we determined that the best path forward for Consolidated, our members, and our communities is to focus on growing our electric, gas, and residential fiber internet services. Selling our commercial fiber business to Horizon will allow us to do that, and we know Horizon will continue to provide outstanding service to commercial organizations in our region."

Consolidated's current commercial fiber customers will not see any interruption in their service. Horizon will continue to serve customers according to their contracts.

To inquire about fiber solutions from Horizon, visit HorizonConnects.com/enterprise-fiber or email [email protected].

ABOUT HORIZON
Horizon is a facilities-based, fiber-optic broadband service provider based in Ohio with expanding services across the Midwest. Operating 5,500+ route miles of fiber, Horizon provides high-quality connectivity solutions for small to large enterprise and wholesale carrier customers, where high-reliability and high availability are critical. The extensive network offers high speed Ethernet, Dedicated Internet Access, Hosted Voice and UCaaS, dark fiber, wavelength, and data center connectivity services. Horizon partners with carriers, government, healthcare, education, and enterprise businesses offering flexible and customizable fiber network solutions with a remarkable commitment to customer care and cutting-edge fiber-optic technology. For more information, visit horizonconnects.com.

ABOUT NOVACAP
Founded in 1981, Novacap is a leading Canadian private equity firm with more than C$8B of AUM that has invested in more than 100 platforms and 150 add-on acquisitions. Applying its sector-focused approach since 2007 in TMT, Industries and now Financial Services, Novacap's deep domain expertise can accelerate company growth and create long-term value. With experienced, dedicated investment and operations teams as well as substantial funding, Novacap has the resources and knowledge to build world-class businesses. Novacap has offices in Brossard, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit novacap.ca.

ABOUT CONSOLIDATED COOPERATIVE
Consolidated Cooperative is a not-for-profit, consumer-owned cooperative that provides electric, gas, and fiber services to more than 18,000 accounts in eight Central Ohio counties. To learn more about Consolidated Cooperative, visit consolidated.coop.

Contact: Ashley Gray
Marketing Manager
1123 Goodale Blvd, Ste. 550
Columbus, OH 43212
740.993.9660
[email protected]

SOURCE Horizon