Zayo seals $127m Spread Networks buy and boosts Texas infrastructure
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Zayo seals $127m Spread Networks buy and boosts Texas infrastructure

Zayo Group has completed its $127 million acquisition of Spread Networks whilst also announcing an extension of its fibre network in Texas.

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Zayo unveiled plans to buy Spread Networks – a privately-held fibre network company between Chicago and New York – in November, but said it has now completed the deal. The provides Zayo with an 825-mile, high-fibre count long haul route between New York and Chicago

It also includes Spread’s customers, in particular those in financial services who have trading operations in those cities’ markets, with one of the lowest latency and most direct fibre routes between the two cities and additional physical path diversity.

Spread Networks’ high-fibre count route, which currently serves more than 60 customers, has ample capacity for new customers. Of the 432 fibres available on the route, less than 25% are utilised today and the acquisition provides Zayo with overpull rights and additional conduit. The route connects 755 Secaucus Rd. in Secaucus, NJ and 1400 Federal Blvd. in Carteret, NJ to 350 Cermak Rd. in Chicago, IL, with additional connectivity enabled by Zayo’s existing network. Zayo will use the acquired assets to provide a low-latency wavelength route from Seattle to New York.

“We acquired Spread Networks because of their leadership in ultra low-latency network solutions for the financial and trading sectors,” said Dan Caruso, Zayo’s chairman and CEO. 

“Spread Networks by Zayo will build on this flagship network, providing customers with additional fibre and microwave options for fast, high-bandwidth connectivity. For customers in finance and other sectors, including content, media and cloud providers, millisecond improvements in network speed can provide a powerful competitive advantage.”

Members of the Spread Networks team will join the Zayo team under the leadership of Brandon Gouin, General Manager of Spread Networks by Zayo. Spread Networks by Zayo will be reported under the Fiber Solutions business segment.

It is the latest in a number of recent announcements from Zayo, which announced a new software-defined wide area networking solution at the beginning of the year.

It has also completed a significant expansion of its network infrastructure in the so-called Texas Triangle, which includes Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. The two-year expansion project has seen Zayo almost triple its network footprint in Texas.

Zayo said the expansion has been driven be demands from several major customers, including fibre-to-the-tower builds in San Antonio and Austin for an unnamed wireless provider; and dark fibre for the city of Fort Worth.

The Texas Triangle represents approximately 75 percent of the Texas economy and is a growing centre for technology, energy, finance, transportation and enterprise. It is home to more than 50 Fortune 500 companies. Zayo has seen its customer base in the area grow by more than 33% to over 450 customers.

“The density of our network provides a significant advantage for our public and private sector customers in Texas,” said Jack Waters, CTO and president of Fiber Solutions at Zayo. 

“Our continued expansion underscores our commitment to the state and provides opportunity for additional customers who can benefit from our fibre network, data centre footprint and extensive connectivity across our global network.”

In July, Zayo Group closed its previously announced private offering of $300 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.750% senior notes due 2027, through an add-on to its existing issue. This year has also seen the appointments of former Level 3 Communications executives Andrew Crouch, as COO, and later Edward Marche, as president of sales.

Zayo Group CEO Dan Caruso recently spoke to Capacity Media about the company's SD-WAN product. To check out the full interview, <<>>

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