Lightyear Network Solutions (OTC BB: LYNS.OB) has wrapped up its $7.2 million acquisition of rural service provider Southeast Telephone in one of the many consolidation moves happening in the competitive telecom industry segment.
The closing of the Southeast Telephone follows recent deals made by Earthlink to acquire ITC Deltacom and PAETEC's bid for Cavalier.
In a Connected Planet article, Lightyear's CEO J. Sherman Henderson said that consolidation of the competitive telecom market is a necessary reality that service providers will need to engage in to stay competitive. "You have to be larger than you are today," he said. "You have to be better positioned to capitalize on products and customers."
And while the Southeast Telephone is fairly recent, the competitive provider is not a stranger to industry consolidation. Earlier this year, Lighyear conducted a reverse merger with Alliance Corp., a former shell company and ISP.
Although the Southeast Telephone acquisition is a smaller deal, Lightyear expects the acquisition will add to its EBITDA and $77.8 million in revenue to its coffers primarily from its residential service base.
But the real opportunity that Lightyear is excited about with the Southeast acquisition is business services. Going forward, Lightyear wants to become a new business communications source for "hospitals, car dealerships, county seats, banks, grocery stores, and doctors' offices" that may have been up till now unserved by the larger incumbent carriers.
For more:
- see the release
- Connected Planet has this article
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