Kirkland-based fiber internet company Ziply Fiber is acquiring iFiber Communications, a fiber internet company headquartered in the town of Ephrata in central Washington.
The companies aren't disclosing the financial terms of the deal, which was announced Monday.
A Ziply Fiber spokesperson said iFiber has about 25 employees, all of whom are joining Ziply Fiber. IFiber will keep its brand after the acquisition.
“Ziply Fiber has been dedicated to elevating the connected lives of our neighbors in the Northwest,” Harold Zeitz, CEO of Ziply Fiber, said in a release. “Today’s agreement with iFiber not only expedites our ability to bring fiber internet to more customers, but also supports our belief in building effective public-private partnerships.”
The spokesperson added that Ziply Fiber has more than 1,500 employees, and the company hopes to close the acquisition by the end of the year. With iFiber, which works with public utilities departments across the state, Ziply Fiber will provide fiber internet through "an indefinite right of use" with the partner public utilities departments.
Customers of iFiber, founded in 2005, will continue to get service from the iFiber team, the release noted. The company works with Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kitsap, Mason and Pend Oreille counties. In addition to internet, iFiber also offers phone service.
The acquisition comes on the heels of two major funding rounds for Ziply Fiber. In September, the company raised $450 million to put more fiber in its current network and to expand its network. Less than a year before that, Ziply Fiber raised $350 million in October 2021.
Ziply Fiber formed in 2020 when the investment firms Searchlight Capital Partners and Kirkland-based WaveDivision Capital bought the Northwest operations from the telecommunications company Frontier Communications in a $1.35 billion deal first announced in 2019. The company has residential, commercial and government clients. Ziply Fiber offers phone and TV streaming services in addition to internet.
Ziply Fiber provides service in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. In addition to Kirkland, the company has offices in Everett; Beaverton, Oregon; and Hayden, Idaho.
"We continue to be impressed with Ziply Fiber’s devotion to Northwest families and believe that commitment will serve our nearly 18,000 iFiber customers well,” Eric Hale, chairman of iFiber, said in a release.
