Broadband-focused private equity firm Grain Management tipped 2022 to be a busy year for telecom deals, with a representative telling Fierce that in the past few months it has already closed on nearly double the number of acquisitions it made in 2021.
Founded in 2007, Grain invests exclusively in the telecom sector. Its current portfolio includes investments in operators such as Hunter Communications, Summit Broadband, Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications; fiber transport network integrator LightRiver; and telecom construction services provider Y-COM.
A representative for the firm explained it mostly targets “hard assets and companies with inflation-protected revenue streams and sustainable cash flows that are uncorrelated to market cycles.” It also looks for prospects who offer mission-critical services, next-generation networks and broadband technology with strong market positions and high barriers to entry in their markets.
Of late, the representative said Grain has benefited “from increased reliance on global broadband connectivity.” Already in 2022, it has wrapped nine acquisitions, picking up LightRiver earlier this month and finalizing the purchase of Wood River Network through Great Plains Communications in January. That deal figure is up from five acquisitions in 2021.
“We expect to continue to see an uptick in activity as the year progresses both in acquisitions and monetizations,” the representative stated, noting the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has helped boost dealmaking momentum. “The public sponsorship of telecommunications growth in the U.S. specifically is timely and we are excited to see both the organic and strategic opportunities that will stem from it.”
Grain made two hires in recent weeks to help it capitalize on the massive opportunities it sees, bringing aboard Abbas Hasan as a Principal on its investment team and Ted Manvitz as a Managing Director. Manvitz joined from independent telecom infrastructure operator IHS Holdings, while Hasan made the leap from H.I.G. Capital.
The Grain representative told Fierce the firm believe’s Manvitz’s experience as well as his background in law, banking and capital markets will help it execute on “a highly differentiated set of opportunities,” particularly around “transformational international investments.” Meanwhile, Hasan’s expertise in private credit and “special situations investing” will help flesh out the firm’s bench of telecom and digital infrastructure expertise, the representative said.