Lightower and Sidera Networks Merge in $2 Billion Transaction

January 21, 2013

Lightower Fiber Networks and Sidera Networks signed a definitive agreement led by Berkshire Partners, in an acquisition and merger transaction valued at more than $2 billion. The combined company will be led by Lightower CEO, Rob Shanahan. The merger is pending regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.

Lightower Fiber Networks is a metro fiber and bandwidth provider in the Northeast, with more than 6,600 fiber route miles coupled with transport, alternative access and nationwide long-haul services. Its fiber footprint extends from New England, to eastern New York State, New Jersey, Long Island and New York City. Sidera Networks provides high-capacity communications services to large enterprise, carrier and data center customers.

The combined company will operate a high-performance, fiber-based network throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, with connections to critical landing sites and exchanges internationally. The network will offer customers more than 20,000 route miles and provide access to more than 6,000 on-net locations, including commercial buildings, data centers, financial exchanges, content hubs and other critical interconnection facilities.

“Lightower and Sidera will offer customers an industry-leading, fiber-based network with a deeply experienced team supporting it,” stated Shanahan, in a press release.

“This combination is highly complementary,” commented Mike Sicoli, CEO of Sidera, in a company statement. “The broad reach and scale of our combined network, the cumulative expertise of our dedicated employees and our shared passion for customer service and satisfaction will set the new company apart and deliver tangible benefits to our customers.”

Lightower and Sidera offer fiber-based networking solutions comprised of Ethernet, dark fiber, wavelengths, Internet access, private networks and collocation services. Both companies also offer industry-specific solutions, such as ultra-low-latency connections for financial services firms, video transport for media companies, wireless backhaul for wireless operators, as well as diverse cloud, content and data center connectivity.