Empire Access and North Penn Telephone are leading fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) broadband providers in New York and Pennsylvania, respectively.
“Empire is uniquely positioned to leverage its expansive fibre network to provide broadband services to underserved parts of New York and Pennsylvania. We are thrilled to partner with the Empire management team to support the next chapter of the company’s growth,” said Francisco Abularach, senior partner at Antin.
Empire has a combined network of 1,280 fibre route miles, servicing over 96,000 addresses and 29,000 customers, with plans to continue to expand its broadband footprint across the region.
“Empire is one of the preeminent FTTP providers in the regions we serve and the Empire-Antin partnership will enable us to grow more quickly," said Jim Baase, CEO at Empire.
"With still a substantial opportunity ahead, we are excited to partner with Antin to help secure that future growth and provide high speed broadband access to consumers across our footprint.”
Following the acquisition, the Wagner family, which has controlled Empire since 1946, retained an ownership stake in the company and Brian Wagner will remain on the company’s board of directors.
“Empire has been a part of my family since 1946," added Brian Wagner, member of the Empire board of directors.
"We couldn’t be more proud of the track record of success and customer service that the company has achieved, which is entirely a testament to the tremendous people that work here. We are excited to see what the team can achieve under Antin’s ownership.”
In related news, December saw Antin acquired a majority interest in OpticalTel, a fibre broadband provider in Florida, for an undisclosed sum.
