LOUISVILLE, CO – July 2, 2012– Zayo Group, LLC announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of AboveNet, Inc. (NYSE: ABVT), a national provider of fiber-based Bandwidth Infrastructure services. The combined company will operate in 45 states in the U.S. and 7 countries in North America and Europe. Its network spans over 61,000 route miles with 4.6 million miles of fiber. The combined network serves approximately 9,000 buildings including major datacenters, telecommunications hubs, enterprise buildings and cellular towers.
“With the addition of AboveNet’s talent and assets, Zayo is well positioned to be the leading provider of Bandwidth Infrastructure solutions to the largest consumers of bandwidth in the US. With transatlantic capacity, a deep London metro network and access to major cities in Europe, we can begin to address customers needs in key international markets as well,” said Dan Caruso, President and CEO of Zayo Group. “While our opportunity has expanded through this acquisition, we remain focused on delivering dedicated bandwidth solutions with the responsiveness and reliability that our customers have come to expect.”
Both companies have followed a disciplined focus on high bandwidth, fiber-based communications solutions that leverage their substantial fiber footprints. These services include Dark Fiber, Wavelengths, SONET, Ethernet and Colocation services. In addition, AboveNet was a major Internet provider, operating an extensive Tier 1 backbone network across the US, Europe and Japan. Zayo will expand this network to its major markets in the U.S. to provide wholesale and enterprise Internet access.
zColo, Zayo’s interconnect-focused colocation business unit, will expand its offerings into legacy AboveNet facilities. As a result, zColo’s total facility count will grow to 20. The new markets served include Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Dallas and Seattle and are available to deliver services effective today.
Since announcing the acquisition on March 19th, Zayo and AboveNet staff have been working together to develop a comprehensive integration plan. The plan encompasses physical network integration, organization plans, and a single set of processes and IT systems. The new organization has been implemented as of the day of close. The network interconnection work has been initiated and is expected to be mostly complete in three months. A single set of products has been established. Conversion to Zayo’s order to cash systems have begun with initial phases expected to be completed by late August with the remaining components completed by the end of the year.
“’Zayo’s extensive experience in integration through its 19 previous acquisitions will help us quickly integrate the network and operations of AboveNet into a single platform. I am confident customers will see little disruption and will seamlessly have access to the assets and services of both companies,” said Dan Caruso, President and CEO of Zayo Group.
The combined company has pro forma revenue of $925M and $527M of Adjusted EBITDA based on annualizing each company’s March quarterly results plus previously announced synergies of $77 million.
