Published: November 26, 2025
Key takeaways for WOW stock today
- WideOpenWest (NYSE: WOW) closed at $5.18 on November 25, 2025, less than 1% below the agreed $5.20 per‑share all‑cash buyout from DigitalBridge and Crestview. [1]
- The company filed a new Form 8‑K on November 24 with supplemental proxy disclosures in response to shareholder litigation challenging the merger proxy. [2]
- Multiple shareholder‑rights law firms — including Johnson Fistel, Wohl & Fruchter, Wolf Popper and Halper Sadeh — are investigating whether the $5.20 buyout is unfair to minority shareholders, citing conflicts tied to controlling investor Crestview Partners. [3]
- Fundamentally, WOW’s Q3 2025 results showed revenue down 8.9% year‑on‑year and a $35.7 million net loss, but strong margins and continued fiber build‑out, against a leveraged balance sheet. [4]
- With the stock now trading in a tight band near the deal price, WOW has effectively become a merger‑arbitrage story: the key questions are whether the deal closes on current terms and how litigation may affect timing or price.
WOW stock price today: trading in the merger “sweet spot”
As of the close on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, WideOpenWest’s WOW stock finished at $5.18, up $0.03 on the day (+0.58%), on volume of about 403,600 shares. The stock traded between $5.16 and $5.19 during the session and sits near its 52‑week high of $5.41, far above the 52‑week low of $3.06. [5]
That closing price leaves WOW:
- $0.02 below the $5.20 cash offer, a spread of roughly 0.4%, and
- Firmly pinned in the $5.11–$5.22 range where it has spent most of the time since the August buyout announcement. [6]
In other words, the market is largely treating WOW as if the DigitalBridge/Crestview transaction will go through, but the small residual discount reflects uncertainty around timing, regulatory approvals and — increasingly — shareholder lawsuits.
The $5.20 DigitalBridge & Crestview deal: how we got here
On August 11, 2025, WideOpenWest announced a definitive agreement to be taken private by investment funds affiliated with DigitalBridge Group, Inc. and Crestview Partners in an all‑cash transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. [7]
Key terms of the deal:
- Purchase price: $5.20 in cash for each WOW share not already owned by Crestview.
- Buyer structure: WOW will merge into Bandit Merger Sub, Inc., becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandit Parent, LP, an entity affiliated with DigitalBridge and Crestview. [8]
- Premium: The price represents roughly a 63% premium to WOW’s pre‑deal trading level, according to deal commentary at the time. [9]
- Shareholder vote: A special meeting is scheduled for December 3, 2025, where shareholders will vote on the merger. [10]
Crestview already owns about 37% of WOW’s outstanding shares and has significant representation on the board. [11] That concentrated ownership is central to both the deal’s perceived certainty and the legal challenges now surrounding it.
New 8‑K filing: WOW adds detail to its proxy amid legal challenge
The main WOW stock story this week is the company’s Form 8‑K filed on November 24, 2025, which adds supplemental disclosures to the merger proxy following a shareholder lawsuit. [12]
What triggered the new disclosures?
- On November 10, 2025, a shareholder filed a complaint in Colorado state court claiming the definitive proxy left out material information about the merger, and later sought a temporary restraining order to block the December 3 vote. [13]
- Additional demand letters and lawsuits in New York state court also argued that WOW should provide more detail on the sale process, financial projections and banker compensation. [14]
WOW says it disagrees that any extra disclosure is legally required but is voluntarily supplementing the proxy to reduce the risk of delays or added costs tied to the litigation. [15]
What’s in the supplemental 8‑K?
The new filing focuses on three big areas: the sale process, valuation work, and advisor incentives. Highlights include: [16]
- More detail on how the special committee hired an independent consultant to help build a long‑range financial plan and evaluated bids.
- A breakdown of Centerview Partners’ fairness opinion, including:
- EV / next‑twelve‑months (NTM) EBITDA multiples of 4.3x–5.3x on $294 million of NTM adjusted EBITDA.
- EV / last‑twelve‑months (LTM) EBITDA multiples of 5.5x–7.0x on $283 million of LTM adjusted EBITDA.
- These analyses implied an equity value range of about $5.95 to $10.85 per share, after deducting roughly $1.07 billion of debt and adding $32 million of cash as of June 30, 2025.
- Disclosure that Centerview stands to receive $19.4 million in fees, with about $16.9 million contingent on the deal closing, plus an expected $10–$15 million in compensation from a private company in which DigitalBridge holds a significant minority stake.
- Expanded explanation of director equity awards and enhanced severance protections for executives if they depart within 24 months after closing.
Crucially, the 8‑K does not change the $5.20 deal price or structure — it just adds information. But those valuation ranges will likely fuel ongoing debate about whether $5.20 is enough.
Why law firms say $5.20 may undervalue WOW stock
A growing list of shareholder‑rights firms is targeting the WOW deal, arguing that minority shareholders may be getting squeezed.
Conflicts involving Crestview
These firms emphasize several points: [17]
- Crestview owns about 37% of WOW, has four seats on the board, and is rolling its equity into the private company, while public shareholders are forced to sell.
- Some firms say this creates inherent conflicts, because the controlling shareholder can potentially benefit from long‑term upside that public investors won’t share.
- According to Wolf Popper, a “majority‑of‑the‑minority” vote (requiring approval by unaffiliated shareholders) was not required, which they argue leaves minority holders with less leverage to demand a higher price. [18]
“Fairness” versus fairness
Law firms also point to the valuation work disclosed in the 8‑K. With Centerview’s analyses suggesting an equity value range starting at $5.95 per share, they argue that $5.20 sits below the low end of those ranges. [19]
Their core message to investors:
- The deal offers a nice premium to where WOW traded pre‑deal, but
- It may still be too low given WOW’s assets, growth prospects and the willingness of a sophisticated sponsor (DigitalBridge) to buy at this level.
It’s worth stressing that these are allegations and opinions, often part of the standard playbook around U.S. M&A deals. Many such investigations ultimately end in extra disclosures and/or small settlements, while others can contribute to price bumps or, in rarer cases, failed deals.
WOW’s Q3 2025 fundamentals: what’s behind the buyout
While WOW has morphed into a special‑situation stock, the underlying business still matters — both for deal fairness and downside risk if the transaction were to fall through.
According to WOW’s Q3 2025 earnings release for the quarter ended September 30: [20]
- Total revenue: $144.0 million, down 8.9% year‑over‑year.
- Net loss: $35.7 million for the quarter.
- Adjusted EBITDA: $68.8 million, down 11% YoY, but still delivering a 47.8% margin.
- Subscribers: About 464,500 total customers, down 26,000 (5%) versus a year earlier.
- Fiber expansion:
- WOW has passed 106,600 “Greenfield” homes (new build areas),
- Achieved roughly 16% penetration, and
- Added about 2,500 new Greenfield high‑speed data subscribers in Q3.
- Capex and leverage:
- Capital expenditures of $52.5 million in the quarter,
- Cash of $22.9 million,
- Long‑term debt and lease obligations of about $1.07 billion, implying net leverage of ~3.7x.
The picture is mixed:
- On one hand, WOW is still generating solid cash flow margins from its broadband network and making progress in fiber build‑outs.
- On the other, it faces subscriber erosion, declining revenue and a hefty debt load that limits flexibility.
For many investors, that combination helps explain why management and the board were open to a take‑private transaction with long‑term infrastructure capital behind it.
Cybersecurity overhang: the Arkana ransomware breach
Another background risk for WOW shareholders is cybersecurity.
In March 2025, cybersecurity outlet Cybernews reported that a newly formed ransomware group, Arkana Security, claimed responsibility for a massive breach at WideOpenWest. The attackers alleged they accessed highly sensitive customer data and backend systems, threatening “devastating reputational damage” if demands weren’t met. [21]
The report said the hackers:
- Claimed to have stolen 403,000 user account records, including usernames, salted passwords, security questions, and login histories.
- Alleged an additional 2.2 million records with names, phone numbers, addresses and device details.
- Demonstrated purported backend access in a video and tied the breach to an infostealer infection dating back to 2024. [22]
WOW’s full response hasn’t been detailed in the sources above, but for stockholders, the incident underscores:
- Reputational and regulatory risks around customer data, and
- The importance of ongoing security investments — something potential buyers like DigitalBridge must also evaluate when pricing the business.
While this breach isn’t driving WOW’s day‑to‑day stock moves now that the buyout is on the table, it adds context to why some investors see value in handing the keys to a well‑capitalized sponsor.
What WOW stock investors are watching next
With WOW trading within pennies of the $5.20 offer, price action is likely to stay relatively muted unless one of a few key catalysts shifts expectations:
1. December 3, 2025 shareholder vote
The special meeting on December 3 is the next major milestone. Investors will be watching:
- Approval rates, especially among non‑Crestview shareholders.
- Whether any court orders or temporary restraining orders alter the timing of the vote. [23]
Given Crestview’s 37% ownership and board influence, many observers expect the vote to pass, but litigation outcomes could still affect how straightforward that process is.
2. Litigation developments and potential settlements
The Form 8‑K filed this week appears designed to defuse some of the disclosure‑based claims by adding more detail to the record. However, many law firm investigations remain open. [24]
Possible paths from here include:
- Status quo: The deal closes at $5.20, with no material change beyond additional disclosures and routine legal expense.
- Enhanced disclosures & immaterial settlement payments to shareholders, common in M&A litigation.
- Renegotiated price or terms (less common, but the valuation ranges disclosed in the 8‑K give plaintiffs ammunition to argue for more).
- In a lower‑probability, higher‑impact scenario, deal delay or termination if litigation, financing or regulatory issues escalate.
The tiny arbitrage spread — around 0.4% at last close — signals that the market currently assigns a high probability of closing on existing terms, but not 100%. [25]
3. Regulatory and financing checkpoints
The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. While no major regulatory red flags have surfaced in public filings so far, investors will keep an eye on: [26]
- Any updates on financing commitments by DigitalBridge and Crestview.
- Final regulatory clearances or concessions.
Because WOW is a regional broadband provider, not a national telecom giant, many observers see the regulatory risk as manageable, but it’s still part of the overall deal‑risk calculus.
Bottom line: WOW stock is now a small‑spread deal play
For November 26, 2025, WOW stock is less about quarterly swings and more about deal math and legal noise:
- The shares trade within a few cents of the $5.20 cash offer, reflecting the market’s belief that the DigitalBridge/Crestview buyout is likely to close. [27]
- Recent news is dominated by supplemental proxy disclosures and shareholder lawsuits probing whether the transaction is fair to minority investors. [28]
- WOW’s fundamentals show a leveraged, shrinking but still cash‑generative broadband business — which helps explain why a long‑term infrastructure sponsor wants it, and why some shareholders believe the company might be worth more than $5.20. [29]
For readers tracking WOW, the key dates and documents now are:
- The December 3, 2025 special shareholder meeting, and
- Any further court rulings or SEC filings that modify the proxy, the consideration, or the expected closing timeline.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and news purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed professional before making investment decisions.
References
1. ir.wowway.com, 2. www.stocktitan.net, 3. www.businesswire.com, 4. www.stocktitan.net, 5. ir.wowway.com, 6. stockanalysis.com, 7. wirelessestimator.com, 8. www.tipranks.com, 9. wirelessestimator.com, 10. www.stocktitan.net, 11. www.businesswire.com, 12. www.stocktitan.net, 13. www.stocktitan.net, 14. www.stocktitan.net, 15. www.stocktitan.net, 16. www.stocktitan.net, 17. www.businesswire.com, 18. www.wolfpopper.com, 19. www.stocktitan.net, 20. www.stocktitan.net, 21. cybernews.com, 22. cybernews.com, 23. www.stocktitan.net, 24. www.stocktitan.net, 25. ir.wowway.com, 26. www.digitalbridge.com, 27. ir.wowway.com, 28. www.stocktitan.net, 29. www.stocktitan.net
