OxFord Networks Acquired

Oxford Networks, a fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider operating in Maine, NH and Massachusetts, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Oak Hill Capital Partners from its current private equity owners, Novacap and Bank Street Capital Partners. Oak Hill intends to combine the operations of Oxford with FirstLight Fiber, a Northeastern fiber provider. Oak Hill announced an agreement to acquire FirstLight from its current owner, Riverside Partners in March 2016, subject to prior regulatory approval. Novacap, Bank Street Capital Partners and Riverside are expected to continue as minority partners alongside Oak Hill in the holding company for FirstLight and Oxford.

Upon completion of the Oxford and FirstLight transactions, the companies will operate in aggregate approximately 4,800 route miles of high-capacity fiber optic network and 10 data centers, the majority of which are SOC 2 (Service Organization Control) certified, in major markets across New York and New England. Oxford, based in Lewiston, Maine, has a fiber optic network backbone spanning from Bangor to Boston, and high-security data centers located in Brunswick and Bangor, Maine, and two in Portsmouth. The company’s services and products include data center services, managed IT services, voice, Internet, and carrier services. FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, NY, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers in New York and Northern New England with connectivity to Canada, connecting 2,000 locations in service with an additional 14,000 locations serviceable by its 260,000 fiber mile network. FirstLight offers Ethernet, wavelengths and dark fiber as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center services, and voice services such as SIP trunks, virtual PBX, and traditional TDM solutions.

“We are pleased with the outstanding performance that Oxford has delivered for its stakeholders, and we are excited to participate in the next phase of the company’s growth alongside Oak Hill,” says Ted Mocarski, a partner at Novacap and chairman of Oxford’s board of directors. Oxford began as a local telephone company over 100 years ago and transitioned itself into a regional provider of fiber and cloud services through investments in its network and facilities as well as the acquisition of neighboring BayRing Communications in 2015. During Novacap’s investment period, Oxford more than doubled its core revenues and expanded its network reach to Boston.

“The acquisition of Oxford Networks represents a key next step in the execution of Oak Hill’s vision to create a leading fiber provider in the Northeastern U.S.," says Scott Baker, a partner at Oak Hill, a private equity firm managing funds with more than $9 billion of initial capital commitments. "Together with FirstLight, Oxford will be able to offer comprehensive solutions to leading regional enterprises and telecommunications carriers, while also maintaining focus on providing the highest levels of customer service to the companies’ local business communities.”

“This transaction is a very positive development for FirstLight,” says Kurt Van Wagenen, president and CEO of FirstLight Fiber. “Together with Oxford, we will have the scale and fiber density necessary to continue to enhance our capabilities to the benefit of our customers, our employees and the local communities in which we operate.”

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016, following the satisfaction of customary regulatory approvals. Oxford Networks’ President and CEO Craig Gunderson says, “The team at Oxford has been successful in transforming the company from a local exchange carrier into a strategic provider of next gen telecommunications and IT services, including a world class fiber optics network, hosted PBX, cloud services and others. We are excited for the next stage of growth."

 Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.