Lumen’s divestiture of its Latin American operations to Stonepeak is officially complete, and with that we have the launch of a new operator. Stonepeak has rebranded the business as Cirion and named Lumen’s now-former LATAM Regional President, Facundo Castro, as CEO.
The $2.7B deal puts cash in Lumen’s pocket, some of which I’m sure they are using for the tender offers and consent solicitations they announced last week. Level 3 first acquired the business when it bought Global Crossing, which itself made the original deal for Impsat back in 2006-2007 to complement its subsea network in the region.
Cirion starts off with both the terrestrial fiber and the subsea fiber connecting the region to North America, as well as the data centers and Lumen’s 2000-strong employee base in the region. It’s a solid business that will benefit from some more direct attention from its owners than it has had in the past. Cirion of course immediately becomes a key strategic partner for Lumen, covering its southern flank, with reciprocal reselling and network agreements helping maintain the status quo for customers both in terms of contracts and technology platforms.
With its new owners looking to invest in the business, we will just have to see where Cirion puts its effort going forward. There could be further consolidation, as the company would make a good integration platform. But the organic opportunities are just as compelling.
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Categories: Fiber Networks · Mergers and Acquisitions · Undersea cables
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