In a move I didn’t expect, but perhaps should have, a significant metro fiber M&A was announced this morning. BAI Communications has agreed to acquire the New York/New Jersey fiber operator ZenFi Networks.
ZenFi operates an extensive footprint of 1100 route miles, stretching throughout the 5 boroughs of New York City as well as substantial rings throughout northern New Jersey. The company has been very busy over the last couple years with the LinkNYC project, in which they have been actively building out the infrastructure for city-wide WiFi and 5G around specially designed street furniture.
BAI Communications owns Mobilitie and Transit Wireless, which focus on the infrastructure for events and transit systems and the like rather than the more generalized regional and last mile footprint that ZenFi does. With the rise of 5G, the two types of footprints are quite complementary and one can see the synergies clearly. It is not yet clear to what extent the organizations will be merged or operated independently, but I’m sure we’ll learn soon enough.
Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed, but I doubt the purchase was an inexpensive one. BAI expects to close the deal sometime in Q4 of this year.
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Categories: Fiber Networks · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber · Wireless
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I think this is an excellent buy for BAI. Would love to learn the deal amount!