The incremental debt financing package will be used to refinance existing credit facilities
Albany, NY – October 10, 2024 – FirstLight Fiber, the Northeast U.S.’s largest independent fiber bandwidth infrastructure provider with 25,000 fiber network route miles and more than 125,000 addressable locations, successfully raised $120 million in new strategic debt financing. This transaction is part of a global refinancing effort this year at FirstLight and follows the five-year senior secured infrastructure debt financing package the company announced in April 2024.
The financing was led by Sixth Street, a leading global investment firm with deep experience supporting companies across the telecommunications sector, with participation from Palistar Capital, an alternative asset manager focused on investments in mission-critical digital infrastructure assets.
“We have continued to strengthen our balance sheet by working with partners who understand our business, and this new financing provides us with added flexibility as we execute our growth strategy,” said FirstLight CEO Jason Campbell.
“We are proud to have closed this debt transaction with experienced digital infrastructure financing partners like Sixth Street and Palistar. We are excited for FirstLight’s next chapter alongside them,” added Kevin Genieser, Managing Partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners and FirstLight Board Member.
FirstLight Fiber is owned by funds managed by Antin Infrastructure Partners.
Ropes and Gray LLP represented FirstLight and Antin in the transaction. Milbank served as legal adviser to Sixth Street and Palistar Capital.
About FirstLight Fiber
FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud, unified communications, and managed services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic connecting more than 15,000 locations in service with more than 125,000 locations serviceable by our more than 25,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight’s clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments FirstLight was named a Top Workplace USA in 2022 and 2023.
About Sixth Street
Sixth Street is a leading global investment firm with over $80 billion in assets under management and committed capital. Sixth Street uses its long-term flexible capital, data-enabled capabilities, and One Team culture to develop themes and offer solutions to companies across all stages of growth. The firm has more than 600 team members including more than 200 investment professionals operating around the world. For more information, visit www.sixthstreet.com.
About Palistar
Palistar Capital LP (“Palistar”) is an alternative asset manager led by Managing Partner and Founder, Omar Jaffrey, focused on digital infrastructure investments. Palistar seeks to invest through direct asset ownership as well as by developing innovative financing solutions to complex problems for leading global digital infrastructure related companies. To learn more about Palistar, visit www.palistar.com.
Media Contact:
John Romagnoli
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