With their stock price surging, up 20% in just a few days, this little known metro/colo company seems to be on the move. There have been no press releases, I haven’t turned up any analyst reports, and basically nothing really new seems to have happened. Could there be M&A in the air? I do think it is possible, but I haven’t heard any of those rumors either.
Fibernet Telecom Group does colocation and metro transport within the New York metropolitan area on leased metro fiber IRUs. They have a few assets in Los Angeles, but NYC is where their chips are. BearonBusiness profiled the company and its colorful history in its Texas Hold’em look at the survivors of the telecom bubble back in June – they’re small but still in the game. And lately they have been growing strongly and steadily. More steadily perhaps than anyone in the sector but TW Telecom. Perhaps that is reason enough for the move in their stock price – it takes a while for people to notice success when your marketcap is under $100M, but eventually they do notice.
I suppose it just goes to show that the colocation business is really really hot right now, and metro connectivity is no slouch – so if you are in both of those businesses and have little or no legacy revenue, you are doing very well. That said, Fibernet Telecom Group very well might be an M&A candidate for someone like Switch and Data.
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Categories: Datacenter · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber
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Funny you should notice this too.
I highlighted Fibernet in my newsletter “The Weekly Sample” last week. It showed up in some screens I have set up looking for unusual activity.
I looked into it and learned… absolutely nothing. But the tape would indicate something is happening.
BTW, if you miss the CAPTCHA, your comment gets blown away. Unless I am doing something wrong.
I suggest the following – eliminate your captcha and moderate comments. Once a commenter has an approved comment, they can comment without moderation. Akismet kills 98% and you kill the rest. It works well.
Andrew, I don’t know if this is just a fluke, but I find that I can avoid the dreaded GOTCHA that CAPTCHA elicits by logging in prior to posting. It seems this feature is designed to safeguard against ‘unknowns’. Maybe Rob can clarify this.
As for Fibernet, an interesting play indeed. During its formative years the company engaged in swaps with several other aspiring plays in NYC at the time. At the time of its inception it targeted large corporations and real estate management concerns, whose tenants comprised virtual campuses.
In fact, and if I’m not mistaken, FTGX first demonstrated its collocation prowess by designing and installing in-building easements for building owners who supported multiple carriers, facilitating coexistence by competitors in environments that I suppose one could liken to carrier-zoos for building basements.
These practices have become commonplace today, but eight to ten years ago these types of accommodations represented fertile ground for fiber operators and DLECs alike.
Clarification: In my post immediately preceding this one I confused FiberNet of NY City with Fibernet UK, which Andrew mentioned as having been the Fibernet that was acquired by GC in 2006.
Rob, is FiberNet NY (FTGX) a candidate for the list?
You’re right about Carl…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/business/30nocera.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print