A New York federal courtroom on Friday briefly blocked Cable One’s pending deal to amass the remainder of Mega Broadband Investments (MBI) it didn’t already personal. The courtroom determination was handed down quickly after CoBank, considered one of Cable One’s lenders, sought an emergency restraining order to delay the $480 million transaction.
The momentary restraining order will stay pending a listening to. Cable One has not commented.
Cable One shares plummeted $4.07 (-26.78%) Friday, closing at $11.14 every. As of Friday afternoon, Cable One shares have dropped 90.13% to this point in 2026.
The choose’s order arrived simply as Cable One was about to shut its buy of the 55% remaining stake in MBI that it didn’t already personal. MBI owns Vyve Broadband, a cable/broadband operator that had about 210,000 prospects and a footprint of roughly 657,000 passings as of September 2025. The Cable One-MBI settlement was initiated in 2020, when Cable One agreed to amass 45% of Mega Broadband, with an preliminary choice to amass the remainder beginning in 2023. In January, Cable One amended the unique phrases to amass the remainder of the MBI stake by October 1, 2026.
Transaction was heading towards an October 9 shut
The courtroom’s determination additionally entered the image per week after Cable One introduced it was in “superior discussions” with GTCR (the non-public fairness agency that fashioned MBI), sure present lenders and potential new traders to iron out the operator’s capital necessities. On the time, Cable One and GRCR introduced that that they had agreed to increase the deadline to finish the transaction to Friday, October 9.
The Wall Avenue Journal reported on October 8 that Cable One was nearing a deal to safe about $1.25 billion in new financing from new and present shareholders to “deal with its stability sheet” and pay down some present debt. The WSJ mentioned Cable One was poised to announce the financing settlement as quickly as October 9.
However that plan apparently got here to a screeching halt after CoBank, which holds about $1.1 billion in secured credit score issued by Cable One, sued to cease a $480 million switch. A portion of CoBank’s loans with Cable One are due in Could 2028, and bigger parts, together with a B3 mortgage of $727.2 million, is due and payable on October 30, 2029.
CoBank argued that Cable One had beforehand disclosed that the fairness is price a fraction of that quantity and that if the switch had been to happen, CoBank’s potential to be repaid on its $1.1 billion of excellent loans “can be irreparably compromised.”
Pending transaction is a ‘fraudulent switch,’ lender claims
CoBank claimed that the pending $480 million transaction quantities to a “fraudulent switch,” and believes the phrases of the reported $1.25 billion in new financing for Cable One quantities to “predatory economics.”
“Ought to this $480 million switch happen, Cable one would sink deeper into insolvency and make Cable One’s remaining property unreasonably small given its already massive money owed,” CoBank informed the courtroom. “Cable One is trending in direction of a chapter continuing.”
Cable One, which shed 17,400 broadband subs in Q2 2026, ended the quarter with gross debt of $3.06 billion.
Bother with the transaction has been brewing. In June, Cable One disclosed in an 8-Okay submitting that the designated trade agent for its prior supply to MBI lenders of the secured time period loans excellent had “obtained irrevocable lender acceptances” from MBI lenders holding about 34% of all excellent MBI time period loans.
“The Firm reserves the precise, in its sole discretion, to not consummate the MBI Time period Mortgage Alternate Supply for any purpose,” Cable One mentioned on the time.
