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Dallas-based Gigabit Fiber has received a majority investment from a fund managed by Blue Owl Capital’s Digital Infrastructure strategy. The deal includes a controlling stake in the company’s core fiber business, positioning it for expanded growth as demand for AI and cloud infrastructure accelerates.

While terms were not disclosed, Gigabit Fiber will continue to operate independently, according to a joint announcement. CEO Tom Spackman will remain in his role and is the company’s largest individual equity holder.

In a LinkedIn post today, Spackman reflected on the milestone: “We closed the first volume of our story—25 years in the making.” He said Blue Owl acquired a 51% stake in Gigabit Fiber’s enterprise, carrier, and hyperscale fiber business. It bought into what he described as “a world-class network methodically constructed over the past quarter century.”

Legacy partners, he noted, “are still believers and will own 49% of the equity,” with Spackman remaining “the single largest individual partner.”

“We are all aligned and pushing together on the same side of the rock,” he said.

Spackman added that the company’s real estate holdings, data center developments in South Dallas and El Paso, and its residential and SME business in South Texas were not included in the transaction. Those assets, along with his group’s retained stake in Gigabit Fiber, will be held under a new entity called GF Distributions.

Spackman, who became CEO in 2020, described the investment as a continuation of a 25-year partnership with Blue Owl.

“We are excited to welcome Blue Owl into our 25-year partnership,” he said, adding that the firm’s capital and expertise will help “accelerate our growth and expand our network reach.”

He said Gigabit Fiber is deploying high-density conduit systems in ring configurations across its metro markets—networks designed to meet the growing infrastructure demands of artificial intelligence.

“These are networks that serve as the connective tissue enabling our customers to manufacture artificial intelligence at scale,” Spackman said.

Targeting hyperscalers across the Southwest

Gigabit Fiber, based in the former Federal Reserve Building on Akard St. in downtown Dallas, currently owns and operates approximately 500 route miles of conduit, with fiber networks linking more than 50 data centers, according to the announcement.  The company focuses on data center–to–data center connectivity across Texas, with a footprint in Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, and South Texas.

With Blue Owl’s backing, the company plans to expand significantly across Texas and New Mexico, aiming to become the provider of choice for hyperscale customers in the region.

Blue Owl is a New York–based alternative asset manager with more than $284 billion in assets under management as of June 30. The firm invests across credit, real assets, and GP strategic capital, including fiber infrastructure through platforms such as Dark Fiber & Infrastructure and South Reach Networks.

Gigabit Fiber said it will continue to operate independently of Blue Owl’s other fiber holdings.

Leadership update

Chris Degelia, who previously served as general manager, has been appointed chief revenue officer. In a statement, Degelia said the company is entering a new phase of growth.

“With [Blue Owl’s] support, we will accelerate expansion in South Dallas by adding high-capacity conduit routes and building campus-to-campus fiber connections between data centers,” he said. “Our goal is to create a seamless solution that enables end users and operators.”

As part of the transaction, Gigabit Fiber’s board has added three new directors: Chris Jensen—managing director of digital infrastructure at Blue Owl and a longtime business partner of Spackman—joins the board alongside Matt A’Hearn and Brian Cox.

“I prefer to think of this not so much as giving up majority control,” Spackman said, “but rather gaining three outstanding new directors.”

‘A region of incredible interest”

Chris Jensen, managing director of digital infrastructure at Blue Owl, said the Southwest is becoming a priority region for the firm’s hyperscale clients.

“We are incredibly excited to collaborate with Gigabit Fiber and be a part of its story as it enters its next chapter of growth,” Jensen said. “Texas and New Mexico continue to be a region of incredible interest.”

Advisors and market outlook

Bank Street Group LLC served as exclusive financial advisor, and Polsinelli PC served as legal advisor to Gigabit Fiber. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP served as legal advisor to Blue Owl.

In a LinkedIn post, Bank Street pointed to continued momentum in the Dallas data center market, projecting capacity to grow from 600 megawatts today to 1.5 gigawatts by 2030.

“AI and cloud demand by hyperscale customers is driving extraordinary data center growth,” the firm said.

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