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Antin Infrastructure Partners Completes Acquisition of FirstLight
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on July 27, 2018
5 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on July 27, 2018
5 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Transaction supports FirstLight’s continued growth and expanding capabilities for customers
FirstLight, a provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast, announced today that Antin Infrastructure Partners (“Antin”) has completed the acquisition of FirstLight.
Antin acquired the company from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners (“Oak Hill”), Novacap and Riverside Partners (“Riverside”). Financial terms of the completed transaction were not disclosed.
Kevin Genieser, Senior Partner at Antin leading this transaction commented “We are delighted to be backing FirstLight in the next chapter of the company’s history as it continues to expand its footprint in the Northeast. We strongly believe that fiber is an essential backbone to support and serve the constantly growing demands for bandwidth and data traffic. In FirstLight, we see the right platform and team to succeed in this rapidly growing sector.”
“This is an exciting development for FirstLight and enhances our position as a leading fiber provider in the Northeast. We look forward to this new chapter with Antin, and all it promises for our customers and employees,” said Kurt Van Wagenen, President and Chief Executive Officer of FirstLight. “I would like to thank Oak Hill, Novacap and Riverside for their terrific support throughout the years of our strong partnership, which enabled us to quadruple in size, enhance our portfolio of services and expand our fiber network through organic growth and acquisitions, such as Oxford Networks, Sovernet Communications, Finger Lakes Technologies Group and 186 Communications. They have done an outstanding job in helping us create and execute on a blueprint for accelerating growth that we plan to build on as we move forward as an Antin portfolio company.”
“We at Oak Hill are honored to have been a part of FirstLight’s outstanding growth story. We are proud of the company’s performance and, more importantly, grateful for the rewarding partnership we shared with FirstLight’s dedicated management team and employees,” said Scott Baker and Benjy Diesbach, Partners at Oak Hill. “Oak Hill wishes FirstLight continued success under the ownership of Antin Infrastructure Partners.”
Bank Street Group and TD Securities served as lead financial advisors to FirstLight and Oak Hill in connection with the transaction. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Morgan Lewis served as legal counsel to FirstLight and Oak Hill. UBS Investment Bank served as exclusive financial advisor to Antin and Weil, Gotshal& Manges and Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis served as legal counsel.
For more information on FirstLight, visit http://www.firstlight.net.
Transaction supports FirstLight’s continued growth and expanding capabilities for customers
FirstLight, a provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast, announced today that Antin Infrastructure Partners (“Antin”) has completed the acquisition of FirstLight.
Antin acquired the company from private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners (“Oak Hill”), Novacap and Riverside Partners (“Riverside”). Financial terms of the completed transaction were not disclosed.
Kevin Genieser, Senior Partner at Antin leading this transaction commented “We are delighted to be backing FirstLight in the next chapter of the company’s history as it continues to expand its footprint in the Northeast. We strongly believe that fiber is an essential backbone to support and serve the constantly growing demands for bandwidth and data traffic. In FirstLight, we see the right platform and team to succeed in this rapidly growing sector.”
“This is an exciting development for FirstLight and enhances our position as a leading fiber provider in the Northeast. We look forward to this new chapter with Antin, and all it promises for our customers and employees,” said Kurt Van Wagenen, President and Chief Executive Officer of FirstLight. “I would like to thank Oak Hill, Novacap and Riverside for their terrific support throughout the years of our strong partnership, which enabled us to quadruple in size, enhance our portfolio of services and expand our fiber network through organic growth and acquisitions, such as Oxford Networks, Sovernet Communications, Finger Lakes Technologies Group and 186 Communications. They have done an outstanding job in helping us create and execute on a blueprint for accelerating growth that we plan to build on as we move forward as an Antin portfolio company.”
“We at Oak Hill are honored to have been a part of FirstLight’s outstanding growth story. We are proud of the company’s performance and, more importantly, grateful for the rewarding partnership we shared with FirstLight’s dedicated management team and employees,” said Scott Baker and Benjy Diesbach, Partners at Oak Hill. “Oak Hill wishes FirstLight continued success under the ownership of Antin Infrastructure Partners.”
Bank Street Group and TD Securities served as lead financial advisors to FirstLight and Oak Hill in connection with the transaction. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Morgan Lewis served as legal counsel to FirstLight and Oak Hill. UBS Investment Bank served as exclusive financial advisor to Antin and Weil, Gotshal& Manges and Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis served as legal counsel.
For more information on FirstLight, visit http://www.firstlight.net.
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