US telecom giant AT&T has announced a new fiber joint venture with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP)—a unit of BlackRock—and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) to accelerate its high-speed fiber expansion across the US.
📌 Key Details & Strategic Highlights:
- Ownership & Structure: AT&T will hold a 50% stake, while GIP and CPP Investments will jointly own the remaining 50%.
- Entity Combination: Merges Forged Fiber 37 (AT&T’s newly acquired fiber unit from Lumen Technologies) with Gigapower (AT&T’s existing wholesale fiber venture with GIP).
- Capital-Light Expansion: Enables AT&T to extend its high-speed fiber footprint beyond its traditional operating footprint into major metropolitan markets across 16 US states.
- Deleveraging & Capital Allocation: Net proceeds from the transaction will be deployed to help reduce AT&T’s net-debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio to ~2.5x within 3 years, reinvest in core operations, and return capital to shareholders.
- Timeline: Expected to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approvals and standard closing conditions.
The strategic partnership leverages institutional infrastructure capital to scale US broadband connectivity while optimizing AT&T’s balance sheet.