Bain and Tillman Close $1.5B Eaton Fiber Deal as Verizon Fiber Build-Out Widens

Bain Capital and Tillman Global Holdings have completed a previously announced $1.5 billion investment in Eaton Fiber, a transaction that closes alongside Eaton Fiber's acquisition of Ripple Fiber.

Tillman established Eaton Fiber as a wholesale fiber infrastructure platform focused on developing, owning and operating high-capacity networks. The company provides network infrastructure designed to help communications providers expand broadband availability and next-generation connectivity across the United States. Eaton Fiber and Verizon operate under a commercial partnership in which Eaton Fiber finances, builds, maintains and operates the underlying fiber network, while Verizon serves as the exclusive retail provider of residential and small business fiber services running over that infrastructure.

According to the announcement, the transactions give Eaton Fiber long-term capital and an expanded operating platform to accelerate the deployment of fiber infrastructure supporting Verizon's expansion into more than one million locations outside its existing fiber footprint.

The Ripple Fiber side of the deal reshapes the customer base as well as the asset map. As part of the closing, Verizon acquired the majority of Ripple Fiber's existing customers, who are expected to transition to Verizon's fiber broadband platform over time while maintaining uninterrupted service. Verizon also acquired certain Ripple Fiber network assets in North Carolina and South Carolina. Ripple Fiber was founded in 2021 and has developed a 10-gig fiber-optic network serving homes and businesses across 10 states and nearly 300 municipalities.

Ripple Fiber's existing shareholders, Platform Investment Partners and KLT, will continue investing in Eaton Fiber alongside Tillman Global Holdings and Bain Capital. Bain Capital, which has approximately $225 billion in assets under management, is investing alongside Tillman and Ripple Fiber's existing shareholders as the platform scales nationally.

The structure keeps Eaton Fiber in the role of network owner and operator while Verizon handles the retail relationship with subscribers — an arrangement that lets the carrier extend its fiber reach into markets beyond its own construction footprint without taking on the build itself. The completed investment supplies additional capital and infrastructure capabilities as Eaton Fiber works with Verizon to push fiber broadband service into those markets.