MARCH 6, 2008 -- Zayo Group (search for Zayo Group), regional provider of bandwidth and telecommunications services, has closed on $30 million in debt financing. The funding comes from three institutions, led by CIT and co-sponsored by CoBank and Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc.Â
The incremental term debt enabled Zayo's recent acquisition of Citynet Fiber Network (CFN), the wholesale division of integrated communications provider Citynet. The CFN acquisition, Zayo's sixth since spring 2007, primarily affects Zayo Bandwidth, Zayo Group's business unit focused on high-capacity bandwidth services. The addition of CFN's network doubled Zayo Bandwidth's metro and regional fiber route miles to 17,000, serving 1,400 on-net locations across 95 markets in 12 states. (See Stephen Hardy's article, "Zayo demos the modern way to create a service provider," in Lightwave's January 2008 issue.)
"This is an exciting time for Zayo," confirms Dan Caruso, CEO of Zayo Group. "The continued support of our lenders and investors enables us to extend the Zayo network into key customer locations to fulfill existing bandwidth requirements as well as meet the needs of new customers."Â
To date, Zayo Group has raised $225 million in equity financing and secured $115 million in debt facilities. With strong financial backing and the veteran leadership team of Caruso and John Scarano, Zayo believes it is poised to continue its growth into 2008 and beyond.
"We have confidence in Zayo's leadership team to implement a successful business strategy for growth and expansion," asserts Rob West, CoBank's senior vice president of communications. "Our funding agreement with Zayo is part of a long history at CoBank of supporting efforts to deliver advanced communications services to rural America."
Zayo Group's acquisition of CFN extends the network footprint, giving Zayo Bandwidth a more significant presence throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the US. Zayo says its fiber network now connects to more local exchange carrier central offices and carrier hotels, as well as wireless mobile switching centers, furthering its mission of providing carrier and large enterprise customers with fiber-based bandwidth services.
"The fiber transport market is undergoing a consolidation phase," reports Tom Westdyk, managing director, CIT Communications Media and Entertainment. "Zayo has put together an impressive set of network assets over an attractive geography. Its experienced management team will utilize this network to provide value-added services to its growing customer base. CIT is pleased to be a part of this team and remains committed to deploying capital in this industry."
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