Zayo Group, a rapidly growing telecommunications company headquartered in Boulder, CO, has signed a definitive agreement to buy Access Communications and its 1,200-mile fiber optic network in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, the company announced Monday. The acquisition price was $40 million, but it could be adjusted, Zayo said. Zayo is paying for Access with cash on hand.
With the acquisition, Zayo’s network in and around the Twin Cities is now 2,200 miles. Zayo’s total network footprint is currently more than 74,300 route miles, connecting 271 markets in 45 states and seven countries, according to Zayo.
While Zayo has regional and long haul fiber lines, a major focus is building or buying dense metropolitan fiber networks in and around large urban areas. Acquiring Access fits that strategy. The Access network also includes 500 buildings, data centers, and carrier hotel facilities that are connected to its network, according to the release from Zayo.
The acquisition price is relatively small by Zayo’s standards. Privately held Zayo has bought more than 20 companies since it was founded in 2007, with several clearing the $100 million mark. Last year, Zayo bought AboveNet (NYSE: [[ticker:ABVT]]) and its 20,600-mile network for more than $2.2 billion in cash. It also bought FiberGate Holdings for $118.3 million and First Telecom Services for $109.7 million in 2012.
