ImOn Communications, a fiber-to-the-premises telecom services provider based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Thursday that it has agreed to be purchased by a unit within Goldman Sachs Assets Management, a deal that it says will help fund its expansion into surrounding areas. Terms were not disclosed.
ImOn was founded in 2007 as a single-market cable provider and today owns and operates a 2,000-mile FTTP platform that reaches more than 60,000 homes and businesses, providing advanced broadband services, digital TV, high-speed Internet, and phone services to customers in Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Iowa City, and Dubuque, Iowa.
“The ImOn team is thrilled to be working with Goldman Sachs,” ImOn founder and CEO Patrice Carroll said in a press release. “Goldman Sachs shares our values and supports ImOn’s vision. They will be a great partner to help us implement our ambitious growth plans.”
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has long been a supporter of infrastructure companies, with past investments in CityFibre, UK’s largest independent Full Fiber infrastructure platform, and Global Compute, a global data center platform.
"Increasing usage and reliance on broadband connectivity by households and businesses create a highly attractive growth opportunity for ImOn to deploy FTTP infrastructure,” Leonard Seevers, a Partner leading digital infrastructure investing within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in a press release. “We are incredibly excited to partner with Patrice and the rest of the ImOn management team, and to be ImOn’s strategic and capital partner as it executes this next phase of growth.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022 and is subject to obtaining customary regulatory approvals.
ImOn was advised by Bank Street Group, Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, and Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Goldman Sachs Asset Management was advised by TD Securities and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. TD Securities also served as Lead Arranger on the debt financing for the transaction.
