LightBound acquired; Indy fiber assets sold
INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Indianapolis-based LightBound is under new ownership. The company, which provides internet, voice, network and cloud services, has been acquired by Texas-based DataBank. As part of the move, DataBank has also sold LightBound’s fiber assets to Ohio-based Everstream.
Financial terms of both deals are not being disclosed. Everstream says its acquisition is part of an effort to expand into the Indianapolis market. The company plans to invest $38 million to expand the fiber network from 200 route miles to more than 800, which it says will cover the entire Indianapolis metropolitan area.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Everstream Chief Executive Officer Brett Lindsey said the move to Indy is part of a $300 million capital expansion plan announced earlier this year.
“Indianapolis was one of the markets that we thought would be a great opportunity to grow into,” said Lindsey. “The competitive dynamic within Indianapolis is very similar to the other markets that we have in Ohio and Michigan, where the primary competitors are AT&T and Charter. So for us, this acquisition allows us to jump start our network into the market, pick up some customers, add some additional employees to the team and really try to get our foothold into the market as quickly as possible while we construct 600 miles of fiber across the city of Indianapolis and invest $38 million to do so.”
As part of the acquisition, Everstream is bringing more than 20 employees from LightBound and has plans to add more personnel as the company’s fiber network grows. Lindsey says demand is high for fiber services in the Indy market.
“There’s not enough fiber in the ground to support the needs of both businesses and carrier customers into the future. With all of the growth, our typical enterprise customer is growing at 25% per year organically and our carrier customers, especially the mobile operators, are requiring a massive amount of fiber to support their 5G efforts. Those two things drive us to invest significantly in each of the markets that we go into with robust-count fibers to allow us to support our business.
Everstream says, with the acquisition, it is on track to grow to more than 15,000 miles of fiber in 12 markets throughout the Midwest by the end of 2020. The company adds it will continue to work closely with DataBank as both companies look to ensure LightBound’s core business services continue to flourish.