BCI Closes James Cable Deal

BCI Broadband closed its acquisition of James Cable,  adding systems in Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Wyoming to its growing portfolio.

Coincident with the transaction closing, BCI said it has added cable pioneer Alan Gerry to its advisory board. This marks Gerry’s first direct involvement with a cable operator since he sold his cable company, Cablevision Industries, to Time Warner in 1996.

“Alan Gerry is not just a cable pioneer, but one of the names so often credited with creating our modern cable broadband industry,” said BCI CEO Jeff DeMond in a statement. “The relationship between BCI and Alan and his team is as deep as it is long.  We welcome our new colleagues at James Cable to the BCI family, and could not be more proud to announce that we are the vehicle chosen by Alan and his team to re-enter the industry.”

BCI first announced the James Cable deal in April. Terms were not disclosed.

BCI was formed by former Bresnan Communications executives DeMond and Andrew Kober (EVP and CFO) along with private equity firm BBH Capital Partners, a fund sponsored by Brown Brothers Harriman.

The James Cable acquisition is the company’s second transaction in 2013.  It announced its plan to purchase Allegiance Communications in January and closed that deal in April.

The James Cable systems, currently operating under the brand name Mediastream, were owned by GoldenTree Asset Management.  Waller Capital Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to GoldenTree and James Cable in the transaction.

“Our completion of the James Cable acquisition is a focused next step in our plan, which will build scale and reclaim share as we deliver industry leading products and services to these largely complementary markets,” Kober said in a statement.

With the closing of the James Cable acquisition, BCI now has systems in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Wyoming passing more than 300,000 homes.