Canada’s largest telecommunications company, Bell Canada, said Monday that it will buy Northwest internet and cable TV provider Ziply Fiber for $5 billion in cash and assumed debt.
Privately held Ziply Fiber serves homes and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. Its territory includes Washington County and eastern Multnomah County, areas also served by Comcast. Ziply also provides landline phone service in some rural Oregon communities.
Founded by executives who formerly worked at AT&T, CenturyLink and Wave Broadband, Ziply acquired Frontier Communications’ Northwest operations in 2020 for $1.4 billion. At the time Ziply had more than 100,000 Oregon customers. Its headquarters are in the Seattle suburbs of Kirkland and Everett.
Bell Canada said the deal will bring new products and technological capabilities but it wasn’t specific about how the deal will benefit customers. It said it will retain Ziply’s current management.
“This acquisition marks a bold milestone in Bell’s history as we lean into our fiber expertise and expand our reach beyond our Canadian borders,” said Mirko Bibic, CEO of Bell Canada’s parent company, BCE. BCE is partly funding the deal with proceeds from the sale of its stake in the ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors teams.
BCE’s shares fell 7% early Monday on news of the deal.
— Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com.
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