Zayo Holdings has been a frequent topic on the M&A rumor mill, and now CenturyLink and Alphabet are reportedly interested.
Bloomberg reported Friday that CenturyLink and Alphabet were kicking the tires on respective deals to buy Zayo. That speculation led to Zayo's stock increasing by 8% after the markets closed on Friday. Zayo's stock was up 3.5% this morning.
Bloomberg did say that interest by CenturyLink and Alphabet was in the preliminary stages and that there was no certainty that either would place a bid on Zayo. A spokeswoman for CenturyLink said the company doesn't comment on rumors or speculation.
Zayo, which provides fiber connections for the communications industry across the U.S., Canada and Europe, was reportedly targeted in November for a hostile takeover by Blackstone Group LP and Stonepeak Partners LP, according to Bloomberg. Zayo’s 130,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers.
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Boulder, Colorado-based Zayo also announced in November that it was splitting into two publicly traded companies with one focused on communications infrastructure and the other on enterprise services.