- DigitalBridge and Crestview Partners closed a $1.5B take-private of WideOpenWest (WOW!) on Dec. 31, 2025 at $5.20 per share, delisting the stock.
- Frank van der Post, former Breezeline president, becomes CEO on Jan. 6, 2026 to lead network modernization, customer experience improvement, and a broader turnaround.
- WOW! is prioritizing fiber expansion after passing 100,000 Greenfield homes by Sept. 2025 and targeting 400,000 more by 2027 with about $400M of investment.
- Operationally, legacy video/phone revenues are shrinking while HSD is steadier and EBITDA margins have improved, but heavy capex needs and over $1B of debt remain key constraints.
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The acquisition and leadership change signal a strategic reset for WOW!, positioning the company for long-term growth beyond public market pressures. Privatization under DigitalBridge—a specialist in digital infrastructure—and partner Crestview gives management flexibility around capital structure, timing of investments, and operational restructuring without the quarterly scrutiny typical of public companies. With Frank van der Post at the helm, whose experience includes scaling broadband businesses and modernizing customer-facing, networked operations, the emphasis appears to be on accelerating fiber deployment, improving margins, and halting revenue erosion in legacy services.
Fiber expansion is central to the value proposition. WOW!’s 2022 fiber-first Greenfield and Edge-out strategy, with goals to pass 400,000 new homes and an investment plan of ~$400 million, has materialized through certain states and counties including Michigan, South Carolina, and Florida. The company already passed 100,000 homes in Greenfield fiber markets by September 2025. This builds scale and defines new revenue and profitability inflection points, especially as high speed data becomes a larger part of the revenue base.
Financial trends are mixed. Legacy revenue streams (video, telephony) are declining sharply; WOW!’s total revenues were down 8-9% year-over-year in H1 and Q3 2025. However, highspeed data revenues are relatively stable, margins are aided by cost savings from video restructuring, and EBITDA margin has expanded. Still, the company has declining subscriber counts in both legacy and certain HSD segments, limited liquidity (cash reserves vs over $1B in debt), and capital spend demands remain high for fiber rollout and network upgrades.
Key strategic implications include the pace of growth vs funding: whether DigitalBridge will maintain or increase the Greenfield investment pace to meet the 2027 goal; whether legacy erosion can be arrested; and whether unit economics in lower-density Greenfield/Edge-out markets will be sufficient to justify CapEx, especially with scaling partners and optimizing operational costs. Under van der Post, delivering operational discipline—cost control, network reliability, customer retention—will be critical.
Open questions remain regarding how WOW! will manage debt service post-take-private, how quickly service quality will improve under new leadership, and what competitive pressures from incumbent cable and fiber providers (and municipal or governmental broadband initiatives) will force in terms of pricing, speed and coverage competition.
Supporting Notes
- LWA transaction deadlocked: Wow! shareholders to receive $5.20 per share; transaction valued at ~$1.5 billion enterprise value.
- Take-private acquisition completed December 31, 2025; WOW! common stock delisted and no longer publicly traded. [Primary source]
- Frank van der Post’s appointment as CEO from January 6, 2026, replacing retiring Teresa Elder, with background including President of Breezeline, CCO at KPN, and roles in global hospitality and airline sectors. [Primary source]
- WOW! passed over 100,000 homes in Greenfield fiber markets by September 4, 2025, among expansion efforts in Michigan, Florida, South Carolina.
- Company’s goal to pass an additional 400,000 homes in new (Greenfield) markets by 2027 with ~$400 million investment.
- Revenue decline: total revenue down roughly 8-9% vs prior year; HSD revenue stable (-0.2%), video revenue plunged ~39-40%. Subscriber counts falling in multiple categories.
- EBITDA margin rising; margins improved due to lower costs from video segment contraction. Adjusted EBITDA circa $70 million in Q2; margin ~48.8%.
- Debt and liquidity: As of mid-2025, cash yields modest reserves; long-term debt over $1 billion; capital expenditures ~$60-70 million in Greenfield for 2025.