Boston Omaha Corporation (NASDAQ: BOMN), through its wholly owned subsidiary FIF Utah LLC, annouinced it has completed the acquisition of Utah Broadband, LLC (UBB), a family-owned broadband fiber and fixed wireless internet service provider. Founded in 2002, UBB provides high-speed internet services to its well over 10,000 customers throughout Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, Provo and surrounding communities.
Boston Omaha previously announced via a press release on December 17, 2020 that it had entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the assets of UBB. UBB founder and CEO Steve McGhie commented, “Utah Broadband is excited to partner with Boston Omaha to expand our offering and footprint by bringing fiber to our markets. Our mutual commitment is to provide the fastest, most reliable internet service in the West.”
According to a press announcement, Steve McGhie will continue as CEO of UBB and retain a 20% initial ownership stake in the newly formed entity as he continues to guide Utah Broadband’s next phase of growth. The remaining 80% initial ownership stake is owned by a wholly owned subsidiary of Boston Omaha, which intends to make significant additional capital investments to fund the company’s planned fiber-to-the-home expansion.
The purchase price consisted of $21,600,000 in cash paid at closing, subject to certain working capital and other adjustments, and the issuance of 20% of the common membership interests of FIF Utah, valued at $5,400,000, to Mr. McGhie. A portion of the cash purchase price is held in escrow to provide a source of indemnification for any breaches of the representations and warranties, covenants and other obligations of UBB, its members and Mr. McGhie under the agreement.
Co-CEO of Boston Omaha, Adam Peterson commented, "Steve has built UBB into a first-class business with a focus on delighting customers and bringing high speed data internet connections to difficult to build communities in the Wasatch mountains. Boston Omaha has now committed to fiber-to-the-home buildouts in various geographies through the acquisitions of AireBeam in Arizona, its partnership with Dream Finders Homes, and UBB. We look forward to making significant additional capital investments to bring the fiber internet network of tomorrow to more and more households."