Trive Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm, has closed on a deal to sell the internet provider EarthLink.
The buyer is a family office consortium that includes WaveDivision Capital, a Washington state-based investment firm; The Pritzker Organization, the Chicago-based private investment firm tied to the billionaire Pritzker family; and Stephens Capital Partners, an Arkansas-based private equity firm that manages investments for the prominent Stephens family. Trive Capital will also retain a minority stake.
The deal was announced this month by both parties, although the price was undisclosed. Trive Capital had purchased EarthLink from Windstream Holdings, an Arkansas-based telecom company, for $330 million in late 2018. Two years earlier, in late 2016, Windstream acquired the legacy internet company in a deal that valued EarthLink at over $600 million.
“Over the last several years, we have taken one of the most trusted brands in the internet space and turned it into a trusted option for consumers and small businesses nationwide,” Glenn Goad, EarthLink’s CEO, said this month in a statement.
With its new owners, the company plans to expand into new markets and extend its reach with individuals and small businesses, Goad added. “Our collective goal remains the same: to provide the right technology at the right price, supported by a world-class customer experience.”
Representatives for Trive Capital and WaveDivision did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday.
Atlanta-based EarthLink was founded in 1994 and at one point ranked as the country’s second-largest internet provider behind AOL. The company now uses what it describes as a “multi-carrier partner model,” in which it effectively acts as a third-party seller for other providers.
Trive Capital, based in Uptown Dallas, manages over $8 billion in assets, according to its website, with investments that range from aerospace firms to fitness companies.