Deal Size Up for the Communications Industry

A group led by Providence Equity Partners has completed its $1.365 billion sale of Bresnan Communications, a broadband telecommunications company, to Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC). The transaction was financed by about $400 million of cash and about $1 billion of debt provided by Citigroup and BofA Merrill Lynch. The selling consortium also included Quadrangle Group and The Blackstone Group.

Since the beginning of 2009, PE investors have invested in 58 companies in the Communications & Networking industry, according to the PitchBook Platform. With 26 deals completed in the industry so far in 2010, this year is lagging behind last year, which logged 36. However, while deals have been closing less frequently, 2010's completed deals have typically involved larger sums of money than 2009's with the median deal size jumping from $78.5 million in 2009 to $141 million in 2010. During the last two years, 63 PE investors have invested in the industry. The most active include Court Square Capital Partners (4 deals), Platinum Equity (4), Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (3), Vestar Capital Partners (3) and Riverside Partners (3).