Shenandoah Telecommunications to buy North River Telephone Cooperative

On Thursday Virginia-based Shenandoah Telecommunications Company (Shentel) is going to buy the North River Telephone Cooperative in Mount Solon, Virginia. Terms of the deal were not announced at this time.

North River will add about 1,000 lines to Shenandoah's inventory; at the end of 2008, Shentel reported a bit more than 24,000 access lines.

At the end of 2008, the company reported net income of $26.3 million for the year and $144.4 million in total revenues. The company also announced it had secured $52 million in debt to fund "acquisition, capital expenditures, and other corporate needs," with $23.7 million drawn during the fourth quarter of 2008.  

Shentel has had a taste for acquisitions in the past, and now it continues to invest in a diverse portfolio including cable TV and wireless operations. It added over 17,000 Virginia and West Virginia cable subscribers purchased from Colorado-based Rapid Communications in December 2008.

For more:
- Read Shentel's buying announcement [1] and 2008 financials [2].

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