Here’s a quick look at some news at mid-week from Onvoy, EarthLink, and Fairpoint.
Onvoy has picked Transaction Network Services to help out with a variety of services that underly its voice services. TNS will be providing toll free, carrier ENUM, trunk signaling, and network connectivity. Onvoy was active in M&A in 2015, buying Broadvox and Layered Communications. The ongoing integration of the various assets is likely part of the driving force here, and after that integration is further along I expect Onvoy’s appetite will continue.
EarthLink revealed an expanded relationship with a longtime customer today. Maryland Legal Aid has deployed the company’s hosted contact center solution as part of its Joining Forces Project, which provides legal adviace to veterans. EarthLink had been supplying the non-profit with voice and data for some 6 years. The company has spent the last year and a half stabilizing things while refocusing its efforts on wholesale and enterprise/mid-market opportunities. Having done so, the question is now turning toward where they go from here. Is it finally time for a buyer to swoop in?
And Fairpoint is coming under pressure from one of its major investors. Maglan Capital, which says it owns some 7.5% of the company, would like to see more shareholder value unlocked, according to a pointed letter published yesterday. They’re demanding the company consider various options, and the top one on the list is a sale of the company. They suggest potential buyers could be Frontier, CenturyLink, Consolidated, Cincinnati Bell, and Windstream/CS&L. That last one would bring the network REIT structure into clearer focus once again, but all of this seems pretty hypothetical at this point. Maglan suggests that while following up on that, a share repurchase program and some balance sheet work would be good first steps.
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Categories: CLEC · ILECs, PTTs · Mergers and Acquisitions · VoIP
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I can see how one of these entities would want to buy Fairpoint (i.e., revenue and low debt), but it is so rural and needs so much network infrastructure CAPEX that it wouldn’t be worth it.
It definitely seems hard to make the numbers work.
I believe EarthLink is being shopped around right now. They are supposed to turn the corner in Q3 to Q4. I am sure there will be a buyer when they get their books inline for the market. It makes more sense to sell off the company in whole now that their IT services has been divested.
Fairport is also a tough sell. They have an aging OSP that will require a lot of CAPEX to maintain. I think frontier would be a likely target to pick them up.
How does Frontier borrow any more $$? They have $15.9B in debt now on about $5.6B in revenue.