It has been quite a year for consolidation in the fiber/CLEC space, with more than twenty deals of various types taking place. But with the exception of the CenturyLink/Qwest deal, nearly everything that has been bought has been in the $500M range or smaller – usually much smaller. Back in September, I put together a tally of the deals that had happened until then. Of course, there’s still room for a few more before the end of the year, but let’s dare fate and update that list here with the various deals that have been announced since.
By Private Equity
| Target | Buyer | Announced | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| RCN | ABRY Partners | 3/6 | Complete |
| DukeNet | Alinda Capital Partners (50% stake) | 6/25 | Complete |
| Fibertech | Court Square Capital Partners | 8/26 | Complete |
| Unite Private Networks | Ridgemont Equity Partners | 8/31 | Complete |
By PE-owned or Private Operators
| Target | Buyer | Announced | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Metropolitan Telecom | Cinnabar | 1/14 | Canceled |
| Mzima Networks | PacketExchange | 1/18 | Complete |
| AGL Networks | Zayo | 3/24 | Complete |
| Megapath | Covad | 3/31 | Complete |
| Veroxity | Lightower | 5/25 | Complete |
| Speakeasy | Covad/Megapath | 6/11 | Complete |
| American Fiber Systems | Zayo | 6/30 | Complete |
| Lexent Metro Connect | Lightower | 9/14 | Complete |
| Long Island Fiber Exchange | Sidera Networks | 12/10 | In Process |
| Open Access Inc. | Lightower | 12/13 | In Process |
By Public Companies
| Target | Buyer | Announced | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwest | CenturyLink | 4/22 | In Process |
| Fibernet | NTELOS | 6/20 | Complete |
| SouthEast Telephone | Lightyear | 7/1 | Complete |
| KDL/Norlight | Windstream | 8/17 | Complete |
| Tinet | Neutral Tandem | 9/9 | Complete |
| Cavalier/Intellifiber | PAETEC | 9/13 | Complete |
| Deltacom | Earthlink | 10/1 | Complete |
Still For Sale (Or rumored to be)
| One Communications |
| Alpheus Communications |
| NSTAR Communications |
| Reliance Globalcom |
| Others? |
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Categories: CLEC · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber
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Grande?
Are they in the market? Buying or selling?
Selling – keep an eye out, you will see something soon.
Also rumors about suitors for Telepacific. They are deep and wide in California, have a loyal client base and solid management team. Earthlink would make sense.
That’s a very interesting thought, with some historical breadcrumbs to boot. Telepacific bought Mpower back in 2006, and Mpower’s CEO at that time was (I believe) none other than Earthlink’s current CEO Rolla Huff. So he knows the assets, which as I recall include some of ICG’s metro fiber from way back in the bubble.
Hmmm, New Edge plus Deltacom plus Telepacific would turn a few heads. But as you say, Telepacific is solidly run, it wouldn’t come cheap.
Do you think Integra would be a buyer or a M&A target?
I suppose they could be a buyer of smaller assets, but more often I’ve thought of Integra as a target for PAETEC someday. That being said, I haven’t heard of any action either way recently.