Fierce Network reported late last week that Uniti Group is going to take over operations of Windstream Holdings in an estimated $13.4 billion deal. The two companies have been entangled for a long time. Windstream and Uniti used to be combined, but they were split apart before a bankruptcy restructuring of Windstream.

The merger will combine Uniti’s national wholesale fiber network with Windstream’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) business. The two companies are coming back together under the Uniti name. And Uniti’s leadership will run the company. Uniti President and CEO Kenny Gunderman and CFO Paul Bullington will lead the new entity.

Both companies are based in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Uniti headquarters will remain there. The combined company will initially serve over 1.1 million customers and 1.5 million existing homes passed with a strong presence in the Midwest and Southeast.

Windstream’s broadband brand, which is called Kinetic, has been very active with fiber deployments the last couple of years.

In August 2023 it said it would invest around $7.2 million to connect some 3,400 homes, businesses and schools in Chattooga County with high-speed fiber internet as part of the company’s mission to expand gigabit fiber service across its 18-state footprint.