Verizon in talks to buy Frontier Communications

By Michelle F. Davis | Bloomberg

Verizon Communications is in advanced talks to acquire rival telecommunications operator Frontier Communications Parent Inc., according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

An all-cash deal between the two companies could be announced as soon as Thursday, the person said, asking not to be named discussing non-public information. A representative for Frontier declined to comment. A spokesperson for Verizon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported on the talks. Frontier shares jumped as much as 38%, the most since emerging from bankruptcy in 2021, to $38.62. That gives the company a market value of $9.3 billion.

Dallas-based Frontier bills itself as the “largest pure-play fiber internet company in the US.” It reported sales of $5.8 billion in 2023, with about 52% of total revenue from activities related to its fiber-optic products.

With demand for data usage expected to continue to grow, telecommunications providers have been bulking up their broadband offerings. In July, for example, T-Mobile US said it would invest $4.9 billion in a joint venture with private equity firm KKR & Co. to buy fiber-optic internet service provider Metronet.

Sowmyanarayan Sampath, the head of the Verizon’s consumer group, told investors at a Bank of America Corp. conference on Wednesday morning that the company had a 20-year history offering internet access over fiber-optic lines and would continue to build on that.

“We like the space and we think the business is good,” he said.

In 2015, Verizon sold parts of its landline phone business in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier for $10.54 billion in cash. Frontier later declared bankruptcy, emerging in 2021 with about $11 billion less debt.

Frontier initiated an internal review of its business earlier this year. The company has faced pressure from activist investor Jana Partners to improve its returns.