Northleaf Capital Partners Makes Initial $200 Million Investment in Tillman FiberCo for Building Fiber Network

(MT Newswires) -- Northleaf Capital Partners has invested $200 million in Tillman FiberCo for constructing a fiber network to provide internet access to residential and business customers across the US, the companies said Thursday.

Funds under Northleaf's management may boost the investment for up to an additional $300 million as Tillman FiberCo scales its business, according to the companies. Tillman FiberCo is part of Tillman Global Holdings, which specializes in telecommunications and digital infrastructure.

The fresh capital will be used to accelerate the expansion of fiber-to-the-home in underserved neighborhoods. Tillman FiberCo will focus on neighborhoods and communities that are not currently served by a Fiber to the Premises provider, Tillman told MT Newswires in a Thursday email, citing Ken Dixon, CEO of Tillman FiberCo. Such providers run fiber optic cables directly to residential or commercial properties to deliver fast internet connections.

The wholesale business model at Tillman FiberCo is supported by an order from a "large anchor customer". Thursday's press statement did not disclose the name of the anchor customer. Tillman FiberCo has obtained competitive local exchange carrier, or CLEC, certification in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Texas, Tilman also said its comment to MT Newswires. Competitive local exchange carriers challenge established telecom companies for business.

"This investment is an excellent fit with Northleaf's communications infrastructure strategy, providing our investors with exposure to an attractive sector while mitigating downside risk," Chris Rigobon, managing director at Northleaf, said in the statement.

The founder and chief executive officer of Tillman Global Holdings, Sanjiv Ahuja, was the CEO of French mobile and internet services company Orange (ORAN) from 2004 to 2007.

Northleaf Capital declined MT Newswires' request for comment.

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