BILLINGS, Mont.—Two major financiers of Bresnan Communications say they are looking into the possibility of selling the cable company.
Providence Equity Partners in Providence, R.I., and Quadrangle Group LLC in New York City—two of Bresnan’s major owners—hired UBS Financial Services last month to test the market for the company.
Bresnan spokesman Shawn Beqaj says the potential sale is about determining what the company is worth and has nothing to do with the death of founder William Bresnan last November at the age of 75.
“Bresnan is amongst the highest-performing companies in the cable industry, measured by virtually all metrics, subscribers and financial performance,” Beqaj said, adding that exploring a sale was a natural occurrence in the company’s business cycle.
The cable company serves 308,000 customers in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, with 44 percent of its subscribers in Montana. It has 1,300 employees—688 in Montana alone—and offers high-definition digital television, high-speed Internet and digital phone services.
William Bresnan, a pioneer in the cable television industry, started his first cable company in Minnesota when he was 25. In 1984, he founded Bresnan Communications, which specialized in serving midsize and small communities, mostly in the Midwest.
Charter Communications paid $3.1 billion for Bresnan Communications in 1999, including assumption of $1 billion in debt. Providence Equity and Quadrangle first bankrolled the cable company in 2002.
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Information from: Billings Gazette,
