Lightyear Kicks Off Acquisition Campaign

When Lightyear Network Solutions went public earlier this year via a reverse merger, CEO J. Sherman Henderson stated their intention to roll up a half dozen or more fiber-free CLECs.  Apparently he meant business, as today they announced the first such purchase in an SEC filing.  Lightyear will be buying SouthEast Telephone,  which provides residential and commercial services to eastern Kentucky to the tune of some $37.5M in revenue for 2009.

Life had not treated SouthEast Telephone well lately, as they have apparently been working their way through bankruptcy court since filing last September.  To purchase its assets, Lightyear will pay approximately $560K in cash, $1.1M in stock, and assume $3.765M in debt, and expects to initially supply some $2M to fund working capital and network expansion needs post-closing.  To pay for the acquisition, Lightyear is selling a basket of common stock and warrants that are bringing in some $2.343M in proceeds.

Are there more candidates out there like Southeast Telephone that Lightyear will swoop down on?  This one was on their home turf in Kentucky, which means they probably had their eye on it when they launched the current offensive.  Others they might have in mind could be nearby as well.

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Categories: CLEC · Mergers and Acquisitions