Persistence finally may pay for one of the two companies seeking to acquire Hawaiian Telcom’s parent.

Cincinnati Bell announced Friday it has received a “superior company proposal” for $15.50 a share in cash from the combined entity of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc.

The offer — MIRA’s fourth overall — was submitted Thursday after rival suitor Brookfield Infrastructure sweetened its all-cash bid earlier in the day to $14.50 a share to match a previous offer by MIRA.

Cincinnati Bell said it intends to terminate the Brookfield agreement and enter into a definitive agreement with MIRA. But Cincinnati Bell said according to the Brookfield agreement, Brookfield has until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday to renegotiate its offer. Cincinnati Bell said it will “negotiate in good faith” with Brookfield during this period. Cincinnati Bell said MIRA’s proposal will remain outstanding until 11:59 p.m. ET Friday.

Since Brookfield made a $10.50-a-share offer for Cincinnati Bell in December, there have been seven subsequent bids from the two parties that either matched or exceeded the previous bid. Six of the offers have come in the last week.

Investors have been propelling Cincinnati Bell’s stock higher in anticipation that a bidding war between the two suitors will continue pushing up the offer price. On Friday, Cincinnati Bell’s stock soared 3.2%, or 49 cents, to $15.89, implying that investors still believe that there still may be room to boost the offer for Cincinnati Bell even higher.

MIRA’s latest offer is more than double Cincinnati Bell’s closing price of $7.72 on Dec. 20, the last trading day prior to the date when the initial deal with Brookfield was agreed upon. Cincinnati Bell’s shares, fueled by the bidding war, are up 51.8% this year.

If Cincinnati Bell decides not to accept Brookfield’s offer, it will be liable for a breakup fee of $24.8 million.

Cincinnati Bell acquired Hawaiian Telcom in July 2018 for $650 million in stock and cash, making Hawaiian Telcom shareholders new owners of Cincinnati Bell stock. At the time the Hawaiian Telcom deal closed, Cincinnati Bell’s stock was trading at $15.70 a share. The shares later plunged and were trading at $7.72 when Brookfield made its first all-cash offer of $10.50 a share in December.

Hawaiian Telcom, which has about 1,200 employees, has been heavily investing in its fiber-optic network to provide high-speed internet as well as video services through Hawaiian Telcom TV.

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BIDDING WAR

Hawaiian Telcom parent Cincinnati Bell has received eight all-cash buyout offers as two bidders battle it out:

Date | Company | Offer Price*

Dec. 20 | Brookfield Infrastructure | $10.50

Jan. 22 | Macquarie/Real Assets | $12

Feb. 27 | Brookfield Infrastructure | $12.50

March 2 | Macquarie/Real Assets | $13.50

March 4 | Brookfield Infrastructure | $13.50

March 4 | Macquarie/Real Assets | $14.50

March 5 | Brookfield Infrastructure | $14.50

March 5 | Macquarie/Real Assets | $15.50

* Per share

Source: Bloomberg