MP telephone co. announces merger

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MIDDLE POINT — Middle Point Home Telephone Company (MPH) announced that it has entered into a merger agreement with Wapakoneta-based Telephone Service Company (TSC). TSC will acquire MPH, and MPH shareholders will be paid cash for their shares. The agreement is subject to customary terms and conditions and is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2013.

TSC is owned by Hanson Communications Inc., a family-owned communications company with operations in Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. MPH will be the second acquisition in Ohio by Hanson Communications since acquiring TSC in June 2007.

“Both companies have a strong history of community support and service and MPH will be in good hands under the new ownership,” said Chad Pollock, president of MPH. “Hanson Communications have been operating telephone companies for over 60 years and since their acquisition of TSC have proven their commitment to Ohio customers.”

MPH was formed in 1903 from the merger of The Middle Point Telephone Company and Middle Point Southern Telephone Company and has continuously served the local area since that time. Principal shareholders of the company have been the Pollock family since the very early 1900s. Gressley, Kaplin & Parker LLP served as the company’s legal advisor in the transaction.

TSC began business in 1895 in Wapakoneta and has expanded services into St. Marys, Lima and surrounding areas. The merger of MPH and TSC will give Hanson Communications the capability to directly serve customers via its fiber optic network in Allen, Auglaize and Van Wert counties in Ohio. The combined enterprise will be well positioned to compete and grow by offering the broadest range of products and services in the telecommunications industry.

The Hanson family’s involvement in telecommunications dates back to 1951, when Wes Hanson started in the business in his hometown of Clarkfield, Minn. From this start, the Hanson family’s interests in telecommunications have expanded to the point where the company is the 54th-largest telecommunications company in the United States with over 20,000 access lines, 9,300 cable television customers and 10,000 broadband customers.

The merger is subject to regulatory approval and satisfaction of certain conditions contained in the merger agreement.