Oak Hill Capital has committed USD150 million in primary capital to Lit Communities to further fund and accelerate the construction of Lit’s fibre-based network in unserved and underserved communities across the US. Lit’s existing shareholders, including Stephens Capital Partners, The Pritzker Organization (TPO) and the Lit management team, are all remaining shareholders and plan to continue to support the business going forward.
Lit was founded in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2019 and leverages public-private partnerships with local governments and municipalities to build and operate last-mile fibre networks. The company has networks in place, under construction or being planned in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
TeleGeography notes that Oak Hill is a serial telecoms investor, and its portfolio currently includes MetroNet, which describes itself as ‘the largest independently owned, 100% fibre-optic network provider in the US’; Vexus Fiber, which serves Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana; GoNetspeed in the Northeast; Race Communications in California; Greenlight Networks in upstate New York; and Omni Fiber, which focuses on Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.