Managed Services, Cloud At Root Of December M&A Deals
Submitted by Michael Novinson and Jimmy Sheridan on
1. Consolidated Communications
Company acquired: FairPoint Communications
Head count: 2,600 employees
Annual revenue: $830 million
Purchase price: $1.5 billion
Date of announcement: Dec. 5
Consolidated Communications plans to purchase FairPoint Communications to deepen its fiber footprint in northern New England.
The Mattoon, Ill.-based company, No. 44 on the 2016 CRN Solution Provider 500, said its proposed acquisition of the, Charlotte, N.C.-based company will create a network that extends across 24 states and add more than 3,000 lit buildings. The deal is subject to federal and state regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by mid-2017.
FairPoint employs 2,600 and owns more than 17,000 route miles of fiber in northern New England. The company said it supports next-generation mobile and cloud-based communications such as small cell wireless backhaul technology, Voice over IP, data center co-location services, managed services and disaster recovery.
