GTCR acquires Inteliquent for $800M, merges operations with Onvoy subsidiary

GTCR, a private equity firm, is acquiring Inteliquent for about $800 million and merging it with a subsidiary of communications enablement services provider Onvoy.

Under the terms of the agreement, Inteliquent stockholders of record will receive $23.00 in cash per share of common stock, which GTCR said represents a 37 percent premium to Inteliquent’s closing stock price on Nov. 1.

The combined company intends to continue maintaining a significant presence in Chicago.

Perella Weinberg Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Inteliquent, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP serving as legal counsel. Credit Suisse is acting as exclusive financial advisor to GTCR and Onvoy, with Latham & Watkins LLP serving as legal counsel.

Onvoy is a well-known voice services provider that’s been quite active on the acquisition front. Besides acquiring Inteliquent, Onvoy purchased ANPI earlier this year and BroadVox and Layered Communications.

Onvoy emerged as an independent company in 2011 after Zayo acquired 360networks. GTCR acquired Onvoy Communications Infrastructure Investments in January.

This is also another interesting turn for Inteliquent. In 2015, Inteliquent tapped former Sprint executive Matt Carter to take over the reins of the company as its new president and CEO. GTCR has not indicated who will lead the company when it becomes part of Onvoy.

Carter’s appointment came after various years of upheaval and disruption at Inteliquent.

Besides seeing its previous CEO and CFO step down, the service provider sold its Tinet data business to GTT in 2013. Critics said Inteliquent paid too much for Tinet, a deal which gave it an entrée into the data services and Ethernet interconnection market segments.

Later in 2013, the company was informed that it was non-compliant with Nasdaq listing rules, and that it faces a lawsuit from an investor claiming the service provider violated a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule.

However, it appears that Inteliquent has bounced back in recent years from its troubles. While it canceled its third-quarter earnings call in light of the deal with GTCR, the company reported in the second quarter that it generated $90.8 million in revenue, up 71.6 percent, or $37.9 million, from $52.9 million of revenue it reported in the second quarter of 2015.