Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings have committed $1.5 billion to Eaton Fiber to finance the acquisition of Ripple Fiber and expand Verizon-branded fiber broadband across the United States.
The investment was led by Bain Capital’s Special Situations team and will fully fund Eaton Fiber’s purchase of Ripple Fiber and the next phase of its network construction. Existing Ripple Fiber shareholders Platform Investment Partners and KLT will remain investors in the combined platform alongside Bain Capital and Tillman.
Eaton Fiber plans to use a combination of new construction and acquisitions to bring Verizon fiber service to more than one million homes and businesses outside Verizon’s current fiber footprint over the next several years. The Ripple Fiber acquisition represents the first transaction in this buy-and-build strategy.
The arrangement builds on a commercial agreement announced by Verizon and Eaton Fiber in October 2025. Under that model, Eaton Fiber finances, constructs, owns, maintains and operates the network, while Verizon serves as the exclusive retail provider for residential and small-business customers.
Verizon will handle sales, marketing, billing and customer service without being required to fund the entire network build. The structure provides Verizon with a capital-efficient way to expand fixed broadband coverage while giving Eaton Fiber a major anchor customer for its wholesale infrastructure.
As part of the Ripple Fiber transaction, Verizon will acquire the company’s existing subscribers. Those customers will transition to Verizon’s fiber broadband platform following the closing, with service expected to continue uninterrupted during the migration.
Verizon will also acquire a limited portion of Ripple Fiber’s network and related assets located adjacent to or partially within its existing footprint in North Carolina and South Carolina. Eaton Fiber will retain and operate the broader wholesale network platform.
Founded in 2021 and based in Charlotte, Ripple Fiber operates a 10-gigabit fiber network across 10 states and nearly 300 municipalities. Its footprint passes hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
The investment comes as higher interest rates and constrained capital markets have made it more difficult for independent fiber-to-the-premises companies to finance large-scale construction. Wholesale platforms can address that challenge by pairing infrastructure investors with established retail providers that supply customer acquisition and service capabilities.
Fiber networks can provide higher speeds, lower latency and greater long-term capacity than many legacy broadband systems. Demand is also being supported by remote work, streaming, connected devices, cloud applications and the growing infrastructure requirements associated with AI.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Eaton Fiber has secured committed debt financing from a syndicate led by Société Générale and SMBC, together with existing financing partner Future Standard Digital Infrastructure.
Lazard is serving as Ripple Fiber’s lead financial advisor.
KEY QUOTES:
“The U.S. fiber market is at a critical inflection point. Higher interest rates and tighter capital markets have constrained supply for standalone fiber-to-the-premise platforms, even as demand for high-quality broadband continues to grow. Wholesale fiber platforms have emerged as the most capital-efficient way to close that gap at scale.”
“Eaton Fiber sits at the center of that opportunity, combining a proven build engine with a committed Tier 1 anchor partner in Verizon. We are excited to invest alongside Tillman and the Verizon teams to grow this platform and bring essential connectivity to markets with growing demand for fiber connectivity.”
Angelo Rufino, Head of North America Special Situations and Head of Corporate Special Situations in Europe at Bain Capital
“Fiber is the critical backbone of digital infrastructure required to meet the evolving needs of our customers and power the rapid expansion of AI. Expanding the reach of Verizon fiber is central to our growth and convergence strategy, and this partnership gives us a highly capital-efficient model to extend Verizon’s award-winning fiber broadband experience to more customers outside of our core footprint.”
“We are excited to welcome Ripple Fiber’s customers to Verizon and provide them with an outstanding customer experience from day one.”
Dan Schulman, CEO of Verizon
“This transaction marks an important milestone in the evolution of Eaton Fiber. The acquisition of Ripple Fiber meaningfully strengthens Eaton Fiber’s relationship with Verizon, while the partnership and long-term capital from Bain Capital provide additional resources to accelerate its fiber deployment.”
“Together, these steps position Eaton Fiber to further enhance its strong build momentum and expand its geographic reach.”
Sachit Ahuja, Co-President of Tillman Global Holdings and Co-Founder of Eaton Fiber
“As a wholesale fiber network platform, we will do what we do best, working within communities to deliver state-of-the-art fiber connectivity at scale across the U.S. Through our acquisition by Eaton Fiber, we are well positioned, with our wealth of knowledge on operating wholesale networks, to accelerate our mission of connecting millions of homes and businesses to reliable, future-proof fiber for generations to come.”
Greg Wilson, Founder and CEO of Ripple Fiber
