Media & Telecom M&A deals

BCE's Bell Canada agreed to sell a 49.9% stake in a newly formed wireless tower company to La Caisse for C$2.45 billion, valuing TowerCo at about C$4.91 billion. TowerCo will own more than 5,000 sites, lease capacity back to Bell, and remain 50.1% controlled by Bell.

Noble Mobile, founded by Andrew Yang, acquired SmartLess Mobile, the wireless venture from the SmartLess podcast creators.

Wireless site developer Selective Site Holdings acquired St. Louis-based Network Real Estate; terms weren't disclosed.

Pilot Fiber is acquiring the New York/New Jersey metro fiber business of Boldyn Networks. Alongside the deal, it lined up more than $330 million in new financing led by Fengate Asset Management. A purchase price was not disclosed.

Tucows subsidiary Ting Fiber agreed to transfer its Colorado Springs dark fiber network lease, with closing expected March 31, 2027.

Games services provider Side acquired Roboto Entertainment, a Chengdu-based environment art studio, and named founder Andrea Cordella global head of art.

Trive Capital has closed the sale of Atlanta-based internet provider EarthLink to a family office consortium of WaveDivision Capital, The Pritzker Organization and Stephens Capital Partners, alongside management. EarthLink serves over 500,000 customers and can offer fiber service to more than 68 million homes through partnerships with major fiber and 5G providers. Terms were not disclosed.

London-based CSL Group bought SIMPL Wireless, a US provider of IoT eSIM connectivity, marking its entry into North America.

WaveDivision Capital, The Pritzker Organization and Stephens Capital Partners are partnering with management to acquire EarthLink, the Atlanta-based internet provider. Trive Capital, which carved EarthLink out of its former public parent in 2019, will keep a minority investment. Financial terms were not disclosed.

London-based CSL Group bought SIMPL Wireless, giving it a North American base; it is CSL's second acquisition of 2026.

AEG Presents acquired Auguri Productions to drive growth in France.

Mubadala Capital completed its acquisition of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings in a deal valued at about $6.2 billion, after regulatory and shareholder approvals. Former TelevisaUnivision chief Wade Davis takes over as CEO and executive chairman, succeeding Scott Wells. Clear Channel's stock will be delisted from the NYSE.

AT&T agreed to sell AT&T Mexico to Grupo Televisa and Fintech Holdings for $2 billion in cash at closing, subject to adjustments, plus additional contractual and contingent benefits. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, pending Mexican regulatory approvals. AT&T will report the unit as held-for-sale in its third-quarter filing.

Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings completed their $1.5 billion investment in Eaton Fiber, a Tillman affiliate, along with Eaton Fiber's acquisition of Ripple Fiber. The transactions were first announced in July 2026. They give Eaton Fiber long-term capital and a larger operating platform to build fiber infrastructure supporting Verizon's expansion.

Just Women's Sports bought women's sports tech company Victra Sports, whose technology powers its new app.

A federal court in New York has issued a temporary restraining order that bars Cable One from acquiring the 55% of Mega Broadband Investments Holdings it does not already own. The order was entered on October 9. The suit was brought by CoBank, a lender under Cable One's existing credit agreement.

Grain Management agreed to sell 100% of its nationwide 800 MHz spectrum portfolio to SpaceX. Grain acquired the portfolio from T-Mobile in August. The spectrum will support satellite direct-to-device service for Starlink Mobile, and the deal is subject to FCC approval. Terms were not disclosed.

Premiere Digital acquired Vubiquity, a media supply chain and content licensing business, from Amdocs, which is refocusing on its agentic AI strategy.

Belgium's Kinepolis Group closed its acquisition of 13 Showcase Cinemas locations across Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Ohio, and will keep the Showcase brand; terms were not disclosed.

Clear Channel Outdoor received CFIUS clearance for its acquisition by Mubadala Capital, satisfying all regulatory requirements. Shareholders will receive $2.43 per share in cash, and the deal is expected to close on or about October 14, 2026, after which the stock will be delisted from the NYSE.

eFormed Ventures acquired Outdoor Life from Recurrent Ventures and plans an AI-powered gear marketplace.

Connect Media bought commercial real estate news site RENTV.com along with its podcast, video tool and conferences.

Paramount completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, forming a combined company called Skydance under David Ellison. The deal unites Paramount+ and HBO Max with CBS, CNN, TBS and franchises like Game of Thrones and the DC Universe. It closed after settlements with a coalition of U.S. states and a Hollywood writers' union cleared the main legal hurdles.

David Ellison's Paramount Skydance is set to close its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday after a year of rejected offers, a bidding war, multiple regulatory approvals, an antitrust challenge from state attorneys general and a settlement. The combined group will be renamed Skydance and trade under ticker "SKYD," controlling two storied film studios and nearly a third of basic cable programming.

Agent-to-agent advertising infrastructure startup pubX acquired Compliant, which keeps its name and leadership; terms were not disclosed.

Personalized Story Group has acquired Slovenian personalized book publisher Hooray Heroes, which has created more than three million personalized books, adding it to a portfolio including Story Bug and My Story Tale.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery will operate as Skydance once their roughly $110 billion merger closes, CEO David Ellison announced. The combination unites two major Hollywood studios, Paramount+ and HBO Max, and networks including CBS, CNN, MTV, TBS and Comedy Central. Twelve states had challenged the deal on competition grounds, but a judge approved a settlement with the state attorneys general this week, clearing the path.

Rogers Communications completed its acquisition of the remaining 25% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment from Kilmer Sports for C$4.35 billion, bringing its ownership to 100%. MLSE's portfolio includes the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Toronto FC, Argonauts, Scotiabank Arena and a Live Nation partnership, joining Rogers' Blue Jays, Rogers Centre and Sportsnet assets.

Thomson Reuters completed the sale of a majority stake in its Global Print business to capital accounts advised by KKR; the unit now operates as Westbridge Print across 13 countries.

Grain Management-backed Rightfiber completed its acquisition of American Broadband Holding Company's Fastwyre Broadband operations in Nebraska, expanding its 20-state fiber footprint.

Vero Broadband, operating as Vero Fiber, closed its merger with Montana Sky Networks to create a leading locally operated fiber provider across Northwest Montana.

WHYY closed its acquisition of WPSU from Penn State University, taking over the public TV and radio stations serving about 1.5 million residents in central and northern Pennsylvania.

Creatd entered a binding letter of intent to acquire the remaining 90% of C2 Capital Group, operator of live-streaming platform C2 Live, targeting an Oct. 31 close with a $500,000 mutual breakup fee.

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery said their merger, agreed in February 2026, is expected to close on October 6, subject to customary conditions. WBD holders will receive $31.00 per share in cash plus a daily ticking accrual of roughly $0.0028 per day after September 30, implying about $31.0167 per share at the anticipated closing date.

Charlesbank-backed Spectrotel completed its merger with AireSpring, combining managed networking and a nationwide facilities-based fiber network, with Grain Management continuing to invest and AireSpring's founding Lonstein family retaining a minority stake.

Legacy Distribution acquired Vision Films, merging both libraries under the Vision Films name, with Legacy CEO Dana Webber leading the combined company and founder Lise Romanoff moving to a consultant role.

Health and wellness-focused private equity firm Manna Tree made a majority investment in Zambezi, an independent Los Angeles creative agency, on undisclosed terms.

Japan's Avex Inc. acquired 85% of S10 Entertainment from CEO Brandon Silverstein and his partners, with an agreement to reach full ownership over time; Silverstein stays on as CEO.

BRC Group Holdings agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Canadian communications provider Sangoma Technologies at an enterprise value of about $204 million (C$289 million).

Scholastic signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cottage Door Press, the largest independent US children's publisher, for approximately $71 million subject to purchase price adjustments.

Lee Enterprises will acquire the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Aberdeen American News, Watertown Public Opinion and Great Falls Tribune, while USA TODAY Co. takes full ownership of the Arizona Daily Star, ending their TNI Partners joint venture.

Paramount Skydance extended the expiration dates for its tender and exchange offers covering notes issued by Discovery Global Holdings and Discovery Communications to October 6, 2026.

EMARKETER acquired the research arm of RetailX, adding its team, proprietary tools and rankings including The UK500 and CustomerX Index.

Forge, the Apollo-backed B2B media and events company formed from Emerald and Questex, agreed to acquire Becker's Healthcare from Pamlico Capital.

Forge, the Apollo-owned B2B events and media company formed from Emerald and Questex, agreed to acquire Chicago-based media and events platform Becker's Healthcare from Pamlico Capital.

The boards of PBS Western Reserve and Ideastream Public Media approved a merger creating a combined public media organization serving over 4 million people in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Jinxin Technology agreed to acquire economic interests tied to 40% of HK Education Vision's equity in Yuanwei Network Technology (Shanghai) in exchange for 284,372,086 ordinary shares.

Grain Management completed the combination of Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications to form Rightfiber, a fiber broadband platform serving 20 states.

ITP Media Group announced the acquisition of Singapore-headquartered luxury and lifestyle publisher Heart Media Group, adding Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore markets.

La Caisse invested about INR 121 billion (CAD 1.76 billion) for a 24% stake in Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust alongside Brookfield.

Transtelco Holding, dba Flō Networks, announced its intention to launch concurrent public tender offers to acquire up to 100% of Controladora Axtel and Axtel, subject to Mexican regulatory approvals.

DAZN agreed to acquire EverPass Media, the commercial sports distribution platform founded by 32 Equity and RedBird Capital Partners, to launch DAZN for Business globally.