CPP Investments and GIP Take Half of a New AT&T Fiber Venture Spanning 16 States

CPP Investments and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which is part of BlackRock, will together own half of a new fiber company that AT&T announced on 6 October 2026. AT&T keeps the other 50%. The venture combines Forged Fiber 37, the fiber business AT&T acquired from Lumen in February 2026, with Gigapower, its existing wholesale fiber venture with GIP. It will run as a wholesale open-access network across 16 states and reach nearly 5 million fiber locations at closing, which is expected in the first half of 2027 and depends on regulatory approvals. The equity amount, the valuation and the split of the 50% between GIP and CPP Investments were not disclosed.

What was announced

The 16 states are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Alabama, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. AT&T says the combined company will serve more than 1 million of its fiber subscribers from day one. For AT&T the point is to build outside its traditional service areas with less of its own capital: it expects to use the proceeds at closing to bring its net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio to around 2.5 times within about three years, to keep investing, and to return cash to shareholders. Its stated goal is more than 60 million fiber locations by the end of 2030. The announcement quoted John Stankey, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, Mark Florian, Head of GIP Mid-Markets Funds, and James Bryce, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure at CPP Investments.

The LP behind the ticket

CPP Investments manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund, which held net assets of C$863.6 billion at 30 June 2026 and serves more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. It is among the largest pension funds in the world, and its infrastructure group is led by Bryce. The structure matters as much as the headline. CPP Investments is not committing to a blind-pool fund here. It is taking a minority position, alongside a large manager, in an operating platform that sits next to a corporate partner. We have not seen a stated ticket size, and without the equity value nobody outside the deal can size the position against the Fund's net assets.

How this compares with CPP Investments' other recent moves

This is the third CPP Investments transaction we have covered in just over a week. On 29 September it agreed to take about 27% of an Indian hospitality platform for INR 30 billion, or C$441 million, which we covered in our note on its purchase of Prestige Hospitality Ventures. On 30 September it agreed to sell two Sydney toll road stakes for A$4.5 billion, covered in our piece on the Transurban toll road sale. Now comes the fiber venture. Of the three, 0 of 3, or 0%, is a commitment to a GP's fund, and disclosed amounts exist for 2 of 3. The two dollar figures we have, C$441 million for a purchase and A$4.5 billion for a sale, are in different currencies and point in opposite directions, so they should not be added together. The common thread is direct, platform-level positions where the LP sits next to an operator or a large manager.

Other large investors are also meeting infrastructure managers on the operating side. We covered how Liberty Mutual set up an infrastructure credit programme with OIC, and on the fund side a $6 billion power infrastructure fund closed the same day as this fiber announcement, which we cover in our note on the LS Power close.

What GPs should do now

This section is our advice and not something the companies said. First, if you run an infrastructure strategy in digital or energy assets, treat CPP Investments as a partner that works through platforms and managers rather than only through funds. A pitch built around co-investment rights, a platform it can join, or a joint venture structure will fit how it appears to be deploying this month better than a standard fund presentation.

Second, map who already works with GIP. GIP and CPP Investments now sit together on at least this one asset, so a GP with a prior deal, a shared lender or a shared operating partner with GIP may hold a warmer route to the infrastructure group than a cold introduction. Check your own deal history before you reach out.

Third, be specific about what you are offering. A broad statement that you invest in fiber or digital infrastructure says little. Say which assets you would acquire, how you would use open-access or wholesale models, and what the exit route looks like, because the buyer here is a long-horizon holder that has also just sold mature toll roads.

Fourth, expect a long runway. The deal closes in the first half of 2027, so the capital and the team's attention are committed to this structure for some time. A GP with a competing proposal should aim to speak to the group about what comes after this platform, not ask it to reconsider it.

What to watch next

Watch for the closing and the regulatory approvals expected in the first half of 2027, for any disclosure of the equity value and the split between GIP and CPP Investments, and for the next quarterly update from CPP Investments, which should show whether direct platform deals are taking a larger share of its activity. FundLinx members can see which pension funds are adding to infrastructure.

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