The Boston-based company is to acquire and manage both providers in a transaction valued at over $2 billion.
Pamlico Capital and ABRY Partners will remain significant investors in Lightower and Sidera respectively. The combined entity will be led by Rob Shanahan, CEO of Lightower.
“Lightower and Sidera together will offer customers an industry-leading, fibre-based network with a deeply experienced team supporting it,” said Shanahan. “Both companies have a shared vision of network excellence, customised solutions and superior customer support. Once merged, we will offer customers more services, more routes and more access options with the same high levels of performance, diversity, reliability and support that our customers have come to expect from us.”
Following the merger, the combined company will boast a fibre-based network throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions with access to landing sites and exchanges internationally.
The company’s infrastructure will include a combined network of over 20,000-route miles and access to more than 6,600 on-net locations.
“This combination is highly complementary,” said Mike Sicoli, CEO of Sidera. “The broad reach and scale of our combined network, the cumulative expertise of our dedicated employees and our shared passion for customer service and satisfaction will set the new company apart and deliver tangible benefits to our customers.”
Both companies said that the merger would accelerate their strategies to provide best-in-class fibre networking solutions to enterprise, carrier and government customers.
The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory approval.
