Telecommunications Acquisitions in New York

SLICFiber has completed the acquisition and integration of Westelcom, resulting in a major network upgrade that increased capacity by up to tenfold and improved redundancy across Upstate New York. The combined 100% fiber network now offers faster, more reliable service with private cloud connections to Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, supporting residential, business and institutional customers across the region.

Airspan Networks Holdings LLC has completed the acquisition of Corning Incorporated's wireless business, including Corning’s 6000/6200 DAS products and the SpiderCloud small cell RAN portfolio. The deal transfers IP and experienced wireless personnel to Airspan and expands its in‑building wireless and small‑cell product portfolio to strengthen its indoor connectivity offerings.

Dunes Point Capital, LP acquired a majority interest in Eastern Communications, Ltd., a national distributor and technical service provider of mission‑critical communication devices and network infrastructure for public safety agencies. The investment is led by Dunes Point Capital Fund III with co-investors including funds managed by Partners Capital and debt financing from Audax Private Debt, TPG Twin Brook and Manulife; Eastern is headquartered in Queens, New York and employs approximately 200 people.

CIBL, Inc. (OTC Pink: CIBY) closed on the acquisition of a 20% interest in Brick Skirt Holdings, Inc. from LICT Corporation in exchange for 750 common shares. Brick Skirt, through its subsidiaries, provides broadband and communications services to portions of western New York, and CIBL said its board continues to evaluate strategic alternatives to create shareholder value.

Belden Inc. has acquired Precision Optical Technologies, Inc. in a transaction announced at approximately $290 million in cash. The deal adds a portfolio of value‑added optical transceivers and fiber products to Belden's Enterprise Solutions segment to broaden its PON and fiber offerings for telcos, MSOs, data centers and enterprise customers; the acquisition was expected to close by end of Q2 2024 and has been completed.

TeleCloud, a Morristown, New Jersey–based cloud telecommunications provider, has acquired the Nextphone customer base from DiRAD, expanding its footprint in cloud-based phone and unified communications services. The deal transfers DiRAD’s Nextphone clients to TeleCloud as the company seeks to grow its SMB-focused managed communications business and extend its 24/7 white-glove support offering.

Archtop Fiber has completed its acquisition of GTel, a family-owned, fiber-rich voice, video and Internet service provider based in Germantown, New York. The deal brings GTel's ~300 miles of fiber infrastructure, roughly 2,500 customers and a 17-person workforce into Archtop as the buyer expands its 100%-fiber, multi-gig broadband footprint across southern Columbia County and the Hudson Valley.

Wireless Logic, a global IoT connectivity provider backed by Montagu, has acquired Webbing, a 2010-founded MVNO and eSIM specialist that provides global connectivity and eSIM management for enterprise mobility and IoT customers. The deal expands Wireless Logic’s eSIM and IoT provisioning capabilities and broadens its regional presence, particularly in the United States and Asia.

Bluewave Technology Group has acquired Total Telecom Solutions, a New York–based telecom agency that provides voice and data solutions to medium-sized businesses. The undisclosed deal expands Bluewave’s presence in the Northeast and brings Total Telecom’s team and client base into Bluewave’s technology advisory platform.

NOVA Infrastructure has acquired Xchange Telecom (and its commercial business, Skywire), a New York–based provider of high-speed internet, voice, and unified communications serving New York City, upstate New York and New Jersey. NOVA — which first invested in Xchange in September 2021 — said the acquisition expands its communications portfolio and positions Xchange to scale broadband and voice services into underserved urban buildings and neighborhoods.

Ooma, Inc. acquired Junction Networks Inc. (doing business as OnSIP) from Intrado Corp. for approximately $9.75 million in cash, with the transaction completing on July 22, 2022. The acquisition adds roughly $10 million in annual revenue and about 50,000 primarily SMB users to Ooma's business, and is expected to be accretive to adjusted EBITDA as the companies realize operational synergies.

Antin Infrastructure Partners has completed an investment/acquisition of Empire Access and North Penn Telephone (together, "Empire"), regional fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) broadband providers serving Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania. The Wagner family retains an ownership stake and Brian Wagner remains on the board while Jim Baase becomes CEO; the combined network covers ~1,280 fiber route miles and services roughly 96,000 addresses and 29,000 customers.

Oak Hill Capital will acquire a controlling interest in Greenlight Networks through its Oak Hill Capital Partners VI fund and plans to invest up to $300 million to accelerate the fiber-to-the-home expansion across New York and beyond. Greenlight currently serves approximately 80,000 homes, employs about 160 people, and the transaction is expected to close pending New York State Public Service Commission approval.

Oak Hill Capital has acquired Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies (OTTC) to expand OTTC’s Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) footprint across Upstate New York. The transaction positions OTTC — and its competitive division Upstate Fiber Networks (UFN) — for accelerated geographic expansion into underserved residential and business markets in the Finger Lakes region.

Oak Hill Capital has formed a partnership with NetSpeed LLC to provide capital and support to accelerate NetSpeed's expansion of fiber-to-the-premises networks across the Northeastern United States. NetSpeed's founder Frank Chiaino and management remain significant investors in the business while Oak Hill will contribute operational and financial expertise to scale deployments.

Comstar Technologies, a West Chester, Pennsylvania-based provider of telecommunications, managed IT, physical security, and audio-visual solutions, has acquired Comtel VoIP, Inc., a Tonawanda, New York-based hosted telephony provider. The acquisition expands Comstar's footprint in Pennsylvania and Western New York and broadens Comtel's solution portfolio beyond voice while keeping Comtel operating under its current name.

FirstLight, a fiber-optic network operator backed by Antin Infrastructure Partners, agreed to acquire BestWeb to deepen its fiber footprint across Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, adding approximately 170 route miles of fiber. The deal, announced June 3, 2020, was expected to close in Q4 2020 (and subsequently completed later that year) and expands FirstLight’s capability to serve K-12, enterprise and carrier customers in the lower Hudson Valley.

Cisco announced its intent to acquire Fluidmesh Networks to strengthen Cisco's industrial wireless and Industrial IoT offerings, adding Fluidmesh's wireless backhaul technology for on-the-move assets (trains, subways, ports). The deal was expected to close in Cisco's fiscal Q4 2020 and the Fluidmesh team will join Cisco's IoT business to accelerate deployments in rail, mining, ports and other industrial markets.

InSite Wireless Group has acquired Repeater Communications Group to expand its portfolio of urban rooftop and tower telecommunications sites, gaining a meaningful presence in New York City and surrounding BTA markets. The deal, which closed March 11, 2020, adds roughly 3,500 co-located rooftop and tower sites to InSite’s infrastructure assets and strengthens its ability to support 4G and evolving 5G deployments.

Nokia announced it will acquire Elenion Technologies, a privately held U.S. silicon photonics company headquartered in New York, to integrate Elenion's silicon photonics platform and design services into Nokia's optical networking portfolio. The acquisition is intended to improve time-to-market and reduce cost per bit for 5G, cloud and enterprise networking solutions; the transaction was expected to close in Q1 2020, subject to regulatory approvals.

FirstLight has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PrimeLink, a regional provider of voice and data services and a subsidiary of The Champlain Telephone Company. The deal expands FirstLight's fiber footprint across Upstate New York (including Plattsburgh, Glens Falls, Queensbury, Albany and the Lake Champlain corridor) and adds fiber capacity on a route into Montreal, Canada; financial terms were not disclosed and the transaction was expected to close in Q3 2020.

Antin Infrastructure Partners has entered into an agreement to acquire FirstLight, a fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure provider headquartered in Albany, New York, from Oak Hill Capital Partners IV. The acquisition, intended to accelerate FirstLight’s growth and enhance its service capabilities for enterprise and carrier customers across the Northeast, was expected to close in the second half of 2018; financial terms were not disclosed.

Verso Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSO) has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire MessageClick Inc., a New York City–based provider of unified voice and data messaging and hosted messaging (ASP) solutions. Under the terms, MessageClick preferred stockholders will receive restricted Verso common stock and warrants; Verso will assume an estimated $4.5 million in MessageClick liabilities and has provided prior bridge financing and arranged additional financing to fund the transaction.