Lightower Fiber merging with Fibertech

LIGHTOWER provides custom, high-capacity network services and Fibertech provides fiber-optic based network services throughout 30 mid-size cities in the eastern and central regions of the country.
LIGHTOWER provides custom, high-capacity network services and Fibertech provides fiber-optic based network services throughout 30 mid-size cities in the eastern and central regions of the country.

PROVIDENCE – Lightower Fiber Networks purchased Fibertech Networks, which has significant operations in Providence, in a $1.9 billion deal.

The merger of Lightower Fiber Networks, based in Boxborough, Mass., and Fibertech Networks, based in Rochester, N.Y., will be funded through a combination of equity and debt.

Lightower provides custom, high-capacity network services and Fibertech provides fiber-optic based network services throughout 30 mid-size cities in the eastern and central regions of the country.

Lightower’s financial backers, Berkshire Partners, Pamlico Capital and ABRY Partners, will each provide additional equity for the transaction. Fibertech Networks investors include Court Square Capital Partners.

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The combined company will be led by Lightower CEO Rob Shanahan.

Pending regulatory approvals, the merger is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.

“The combination of Lightower and Fibertech is a win for customers by enabling us to serve more locations, across a wider area and with more service options – all with the same superior level of reliability and customer support,” Shanahan said in a statement. “Lightower and Fibertech have built distinct networks in their respective regions that will be very complementary when merged. In addition, we plan to continue to invest capital in these regions for additional network expansion.”

The combined company will own and operate a high-performance, fiber-based network throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. The company will offer customers more than 30,000 route miles of fiber network providing access to nearly 5,000 wireless towers and almost 13,000 on-net service locations, including commercial buildings, data centers, financial exchanges, content hubs and other communications facilities.

“This merger between our two high-growth companies is a very positive development for both organizations, both customer bases and both sets of employees,” John Purcell, CEO of Fibertech, said in prepared remarks.

Randy Peeler, managing director of Berkshire Partners, said they are excited about the companies merging.

“We have invested in the telecommunications infrastructure space for nearly 20 years and believe that the combined company, with its incredibly robust network, is well positioned for continued growth serving customers with an ever-increasing need for high-performance bandwidth,” Peeler said.

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