Cogent Communications Group, Inc. and Allied Riser Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) jointly announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of ARC by Cogent. In the transaction, ARC will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cogent, and its in-building networks will be added to Cogent's national backbone and facilities.
Holders of ARC common stock will receive shares of Cogent common stock in the merger. ARC's convertible subordinated notes will become convertible into Cogent common stock following completion of the merger.
Dave Schaeffer, chief executive officer of Cogent, said the acquisition of ARC will allow Cogent to integrate a 80 Gigabit per second IP Internet backbone with an in-building network serving over 310 million square feet of large multi-tenant office buildings.
The transaction is subject to the approval of the stockholders of both companies, the registration of the Cogent shares to be issued in the merger with the SEC, the approval for trading of the Cogent shares on the Nasdaq or a national securities exchange, and other conditions.
About Cogent:
Cogent, headquartered in Washington, DC, is a privately held high speed Internet service provider providing end-to-end Optical Ethernet connectivity to the Internet for businesses. For more information, visit www.cogentco.com
About ARC:
ARC, headquartered in Dallas, is a provider of data communications services in commercial office buildings across the U.S. and in Canada.