Monday, March 19, 2012

Zayo Buys AboveNet For $2.2 Billion, Gets Private Equity Backing

Louisville, Colorado-based Zayo Group, the bandwidth provider headed by Dan Caruso, has made a huge acquisition this morning, saying it is paying $2.2 billion to buy AboveNet, Inc.. Zayo said it will pay $84.00 per share in cash for publicly held AboveNet, which is a 13 percent premium over ABoveNet's closing price Friday. Zayo is funding the deal via an investment from private equity firm GTCR. Size of that investment was not announced, however, Zayo said the equity investment also include current investor Charlesbank Capital Partners. Zayo is also funding the deal with debt from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.