Bell Canada, Canada’s largest telecommunications company, said Monday it will buy Internet and cable TV provider Northwest Ziply Fiber for $5 billion in cash and assumed debt.
Ziply Fiber’s private company serves homes and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Its territory includes Washington County and eastern Multnomah County, areas also served by Comcast. Ziply also provides landline phone service in some rural communities in Oregon.
Founded by executives who previously worked at AT&T, CenturyLink and Wave Broadband, Ziply acquired Frontier Communications Northwest’s operations in 2020 for $1.4 billion. At the time, Ziply had more than 100,000 Oregon customers. It is headquartered in the Seattle suburbs of Kirkland and Everett.
Bell Canada said the deal would bring new products and technology capabilities but was not specific about how customers would benefit from the deal. It said it would retain Ziply’s current management.
“This acquisition represents a bold milestone in Bell’s history as we build on our fiber expertise and expand our reach beyond our Canadian borders,” said Mirko Bebek, CEO of BCE, parent company of Bell Canada. BCE is partly financing the deal with proceeds from the sale of its ownership stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.
BCE shares fell 7% early Monday after news of the deal.
-Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state’s economy. Contact him at mrogoway@oregonian.com.
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