I Squared Capital is investing $2.15bn (€1.79bn) to buy GTT Communications’ infrastructure business in a deal expected to close during the first half of 2021.
The infrastructure division is made up of GTT’s business and activities of providing pan-European, North American, sub-sea and trans-Atlantic fibre network and data centre infrastructure services to customers. It consists of selected network and data centre assets accumulated from several GTT acquisitions, including Interoute, Hibernia, and KPN International.
Announcing the deal, GTT said it has agreed to sell the infrastructure business in order to focus on its cloud networking business.
Gautam Bhandari, managing partner at I Squared Capital said: “Now more than ever, digital infrastructure is an essential asset class as societies across the globe rely heavily on high-speed digital bandwidth.
“This acquisition builds upon I Squared Capital’s overarching global digital infrastructure strategy and experience with complex carve-outs to expand the reach of our platforms across Asia, Europe and North America.”
Ernie Ortega, GTT CRO and interim CEO, said: “The divestment of the highly differentiated infrastructure division assets will ensure greater focus on network investment and development of high-speed infrastructure services under the more specialised ownership of this experienced investor.
“The deal enables GTT to reinforce its capex light business model as well as its cloud networking focus and will benefit both enterprise and infrastructure clients alike.”
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