Electric Lightwave

Electric Lightwave, was originally formed in 1988, by John Warta, John Rivenburgh, Earl Kamsky and Richard Furnival. The company was initially formed to compete with US West and GTE in the Pacific Northwest. Portland General Electric was an initial investor, then Citizens Utilities became the largest investor in 1990. ELI became the first company to compete locally in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and one of the first in California and Arizona.

Electric Lightwave
TypePrivately Held
IndustryTelecom Service - Domestic
Founded1996
HeadquartersVancouver, Washington
45.599°N 122.4855°W / 45.599; -122.4855
Key people
Marc Willency, CEO
ProductsData Networking and Internet
Managed and Cloud Services
Voice Communications
Colocation and Equipment
Business Bundles
Revenue$538 million (2017)
Number of employees
823
ParentZayo Group Holdings
Websitewww.electriclightwave.com

Integra acquired ELI, and eventually renamed Integra as Electric Lightwave.

Electric Lightwave, formerly known as Integra was a privately owned provider of fiber-based, carrier-grade networking, communications and technology solutions, headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, United States. In 2016, the company split into two divisions, Electric Lightwave and Integra, and changed its parent company name to Electric Lightwave.[1] In early 2017, Electric Lightwave was acquired by Zayo Group Holdings (NYSE: ZAYO) for $1.4 billion.[2]

Founded by Ted Berns and Dudley Slater in 1996, the company was a facilities-based provider of communication and networking services and served 35 metropolitan markets across eleven states.[3] The company expanded to serve businesses of all sizes.[4] As of 2017, the privately held company had annual revenues of $538 million,[5] with approximately 823 employees company-wide.[6]

History

The company was founded in 1996 through the acquisition of OGI Telecomm,[7] a shared tenant provider formed in 1984 to provide voice and data services to the Oregon Graduate Institute (then based in unincorporated Washington County) and businesses in the AmberGlen Business Park, a nearby office park. The company became Integra Telecom in 1998.[8]

By the year 2000 Integra had grown to annual revenues of $42 million, and grown to around $150 million in 2005.[9] Integra Telecom doubled in size through the acquisition of Electric Lightwave (ELI) from Citizens Communications (later renamed Frontier Communications) in 2006,[7] and in 2007 acquired Eschelon Telecom, which again doubled the size of the company.[10] ELI was purchased for $243 million in cash as well as an assumption of $4 million in debt in a deal that closed on August 1, 2006.[11] The Eschelon purchase was for $566 million in cash and $144 million in assumed debt.[10]

In 2007, Integra had 1,100 employees and annual revenues of $340 million before their purchase of Eschelon.[10] That year they moved part of their operations into the 20-story Lloyd Center Tower in Portland's Lloyd District on the city's eastside.[12] This is near their headquarters at the 1201 Lloyd Building.[12] By 2009 the company had grown to annual revenues of more than $680 million and employed more than 550 people at their headquarters and 2,300 people across the company.[13] In 2009, the company brought in new investors to reduce its debt load by approximately $600 million.[9][14] Integra accumulated much of the debt due to its earlier acquisitions, and, according to news reports, faced the possibility of bankruptcy due to breaching covenants in its loan agreements.[9]

In 2011, the company announced the replacement of co-founder and thirteen year CEO Dudley Slater. According to news reports, under Slater the upstart company grew into one of Portland's largest businesses and became a leader among a new class of competitive Internet companies.[15]

Later in 2011, Kevin O'Hara became the third chief executive officer of the company that year when he was named to replace Tom Casey in December.[16] O'Hara announced that Integra had marked a return to financial stability along with substantial growth for the company’s network assets Ethernet-based product portfolio and service offerings.[17] By the end of 2012, Integra had expanded its enterprise and wholesale customer base, contributing to an increasingly diversified customer and revenue mix.[17] Integra also renamed its Electric Lightwave subsidiary to Integra Wholesale to reflect its longstanding integration into Integra's business.[18] The company also announced the completed acquisition of equity interests previously held by Goldman, Sachs & Co., Integra’s largest shareholder, by investment funds affiliated with Searchlight Capital Partners.[19]

In 2013, Integra closed a new $845 million senior secured credit facilities, including a $60 million revolving credit facility (undrawn at closing), a $585 million first lien term loan due 2019 and a $200 million second lien term loan due 2020.[20] The net proceeds from the new credit facilities were used to refinance Integra’s previously outstanding term loan and bonds, and for general corporate purposes.[20] To better align with its expanded market focus, Integra re-branded in February 2013 and introduced a new company logo and tagline, "Technology You Trust. People You Know."[8] In 2014, the company moved its headquarters from Portland to neighboring Vancouver, Washington.[21][22]

In August 2016, Integra split itself into two standalone businesses, Electric Lightwave and Integra, and the corporate entity which owned them was named Electric Lightwave.[1]

Zayo's completion of the acquisition in 2017 marked the end of a period of significant change beginning in 2011, during which the company cycled through 4 different CEOs,[23] and saw its revenues decline from $680 million (2009) to $538 million, while reducing its workforce from 2,300 to 823.[13]

After serving many communities across the Western, Rocky-Mountain and Midwestern United States for over 20 years, while employing thousands of people, Zayo announced the immediate integration of the company's operations into its Fiber Solutions and SMB Allstream business units while reporting guidance for continued growth of the combined organization.[24]

Products and services

Electric Lightwave owned and operated a fiber optic network consisting of a 4,000-mile long-haul fiber-optic network, 4,000 miles of metropolitan fiber and a nationwide IP/MPLS network. Additionally, the company offered data networking and high-speed Internet, managed and cloud services, voice communications, colocation and equipment and business bundles to small-to-medium businesses as well as large enterprises in 35 metropolitan markets including cities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Washington.[25][26]

See also

References
  1. "Electric Lightwave Becomes Stand Alone Fiber Provider as Integra Splits Business". FierceTelecom.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  2. "Zayo acquires Electric Lightwave for $1.42B, deepens western market fiber holdings". fiercetelecom.com. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  3. "Integra Telecom Overview and Coverage". broadbandnow.com. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  4. Steeves, Rich (April 18, 2013). "Integra Experiences Record Growth, Undergoes a Transformation". TMC.net. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
  5. "Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. 8K filed with the SEC on November 30, 2016". Investors.Zayo.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  6. "Electric Lightwave snapshot". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  7. Earnshaw, Aliza (May 12, 2006). "Integra, Lightwave ready to meld products, cultures". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  8. Siemers, Erik (February 27, 2013). "Integra Telecom now just Integra". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  9. Rogoway, Mike (July 22, 2009). "Integra brings on new investors to cut debt". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  10. Earnshaw, Aliza (March 20, 2007). "Integra swells with Eschelon purchase". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  11. "Integra Telecom completes buy of Electric Lightwave". Portland Business Journal. August 1, 2006. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  12. Culverwell, Wendy (August 24, 2007). "Fresh off some big moves, Integra signs large lease". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  13. "Integra Telecom restructures debt". Portland Business Journal. July 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  14. "Integra Telecom reduces debt, adds shareholders". Portland Business Journal. November 20, 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  15. Rogoway, Mike (February 28, 2011). "Integra Replaces Its Longtime CEO". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  16. Rogoway, Mike (December 17, 2011). "Integra Telecom's new CEO seeks to bring stability to the Portland company". The Oregonian. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  17. Rogoway, Mike (February 25, 2013). "Integra Telecom borrows $785 million to refinance debt; credit outlook improves". The Oregonian. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  18. Buckley, Sean (October 10, 2012). "Integra Telecom names Comcast exec Martha Tate as its new wholesale chief". Fierce Telecom. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
  19. Buckley, Sean (November 9, 2012). "Integra Telecom Q3 earnings rise on strategic business sales". FierceTelecom. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  20. Amato, Michael (February 7, 2013). "Integra Telecom Said to Set Rate on $780 Million of Term Loans". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  21. Anderson, Mark (June 11, 2014). "Integra lands California bandwidth contract". Sacramento Business Journal. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  22. "Contact Us". Integra. Integra Telecom. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  23. "Integra Names Marc Willency as New Chief Executive Officer". PRNewswire. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  24. "ELI Closing Investor Call Presentation" (PDF). Investors.Zayo.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  25. "Integra Telecom Holdings, Inc". National Broadband Map. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  26. "Integra Telecom Overview and Coverage". Broadband Now. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
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