Birch Communications began the new year with another acquisition, its 17th since 2006. They have signed a definitive agreement to buy customers and network assets from Covista, which will expand its own hosted PBX and managed services reach in regions across the country.
The deal looks a lot like a half dozen others that Birch has done over the past few years: a targeted acquisition of both equipment and customers of an easily digestible size. Covista has switching centers in Tennessee, New York Cirty, and Los Angeles, and its network is complementary to Birch’s existing footprint.
Covista’s sale of the assets doesn’t come as a surprise, as they had already been selling off other parts. Last June they sold their RouteNGN call routing platform to IceHook, and refocused their efforts on their hosted telecom services, which they have now also sold.
Financial details were not released, but the dollar value will surely be small. Covista is nominally public, trading occasionally on the pink sheets. For privately held Birch, it’s still hard to tell just how far those 17 deals plus organic expansion have taken it since exiting bankruptcy back in 2006, although some estimates put their revenue base over $200M now.
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Categories: CLEC · Mergers and Acquisitions
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