U.S. distributed antenna system (DAS) and Wi-Fi provider Boingo Wireless says it has agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Digital Colony Management in a deal worth $854 million.
The transaction will take Boingo from being a public company to being a privately held firm.
Under the terms of the deal, which has been unanimously approved by Boingo’s board, Digital Colony will acquire all the outstanding shares of Boingo common stock for $14.00 per share in cash through a merger, in a transaction valued at about $854 million, including the assumption of $199 million of Boingo’s net debt obligations.
Digital Colony is a digital infrastructure investment firm with over US$30 billion in assets under management. The firm has its headquarters in Boca Raton, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Singapore.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Digital Colony, which will deliver significant and immediate value to Boingo’s stockholders and concludes a robust strategic review process undertaken by Boingo over the past year,” said Mike Finley, CEO of Boingo Wireless. “We believe Digital Colony’s expertise owning and operating digital infrastructure businesses, combined with its relationships, resources and access to long-term, private capital markets, will provide greater flexibility for Boingo to continue advancing its business strategy.”
“Boingo is a leader in indoor wireless infrastructure, operating networks that serve a large and growing addressable market,” said Warren Roll, managing director of Digital Colony. “We look forward to working with the experienced Boingo team as they continue to develop and deploy reliable networks serving their diverse set of high-quality customers.”
The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.
In related news, Boingo Wireless recorded revenues of $237.4 million for the full-year 2020, a decrease compared to $263.8 million in 2019. The firm also posted a net loss of $17.1 million in 2020, compared to a net loss of $10.3 million in 2019.
In the carrier services segment, the company generated revenues of $107.7 million in 2020, down 7% compared to $115.8 million the previous year.
In the military business segment, Boingo posted revenues of $76.8 million in 2020, climbing 2.5% compared to $74.9 million in 2019. In this segment, the firm provides a range of services including Wi-Fi and TV for service men and women living in military barracks throughout the U.S. and in South Korea and Japan.
Revenue from the multi-family segment amounted to $21.6 million last year, down 13.8% compared to $25 million in 2019.
As of December 31, 2020, Boingo Wireless had a total of 74 DAS venues live, comprised of 41,200 DAS nodes and an additional 11,500 nodes in backlog. It had 73 venues live, comprised of 38,100 nodes, as of the end of 2019.
