M&A Journal: Putting Them All Together

December 15th, 2010 by · 7 Comments

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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7 Comments So Far


  • mitnoswad says:

    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.

    • Rob Powell says:

      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.

  • Brian Scully says:

    Do you think Integra would be a buyer or a M&A target?

    • Rob Powell says:

      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.

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