Wildcat Capital urges Consolidated Communications to reject ‘take private’ deal

Wildcat Capital Management, which beneficially owns approximately 3M shares of Consolidated Communications Holdings, issued an open letter to CNSL‘s Board of Directors opposing the company’s proposed transaction with affiliates of Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, announced on October 16, 2023. Wildcat, the company’s fifth-largest independent stockholder, said in its letter that it believes the takeover offer severely undervalues CNSL’s equity. Based on its own analysis, Wildcat believes CNSL merits an enterprise value of approximately $4B, representing nearly a 30% premium to the $3.1B enterprise value implied by the proposed transaction at $4.70 per share. Wildcat continues to believe in the strategic value of the assets assembled by CNSL and the company’s strong potential as a standalone entity, and called for CNSL to terminate the agreement if a higher price cannot be negotiated. Wildcat intends to vote its shares against the proposed transaction and strongly encourages CNSL’s stockholders to do the same.