Oak Hill to acquire Wyyerd fiber from Carlyle

Oak Hill Capital agreed to acquire fiber provider Wyyerd Group Holdings from Carlyle, with Carlyle keeping a minority stake. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Oak Hill said it will support Wyyerd's fiber expansion in Arizona and Southern California, the two markets where the operator already sells service. Wyyerd, founded in 2017, runs a fiber network serving residential and business customers in those markets at speeds up to 8GB, Data Center Dynamics reported. Carlyle acquired majority ownership in 2021 and, the announcement said, backed growth through acquisitions, network expansion and investment in leadership and operations.

For allocators, the acquisition puts Oak Hill in charge of the next phase of Wyyerd's Arizona and Southern California expansion, with Carlyle remaining a minority holder. The deal is expected to close early next year, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

Wyyerd is Oak Hill's 25th broadband communications transaction, and the firm says those deals collectively cover 37 states and roughly 7 million locations. Oak Hill's recent fiber activity includes the completed acquisition of Oregon provider Hunter Communications and a fiber joint venture with T-Mobile to acquire and combine GoNetspeed and Greenlight Networks.

Lazard and TD Securities advised Wyyerd; Guggenheim Securities advised Oak Hill. Legal advisers were A&O Shearman for Wyyerd and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison for Oak Hill.