GTT Communications (NYSE:GTT), which specialises in providing services to multinational clients, is selling its infrastructure division for USD2.15 billion to I Squared Capital in a largely cash deal. This division holds GTT’s pan-European, North American, sub-sea and transatlantic fibre network, as well as its data centre infrastructure. The announcement was well received and saw GTT shares jump nearly 36% in premarket trading.
Interim CEO Ernie Ortega said the divestment would “ensure greater focus on network investment and development of high-speed infrastructure services under the more specialized ownership of this experienced investor.” This, he said, would allow GTT to follow its “CAPEX light” business model, as well as its focus on cloud networking.
GTT provides a large portfolio of cloud networking services over its global Tier 1 IP network, including traditional and software-defined wide area networking, global SIP trunking, advanced solutions, security and internet services. Its infrastructure division was accumulated from the Interoute, Hibernia and KPN International acquisitions (amongst others) and includes:
- A 103,000km fibre network with over 400 points of presence that covers 31 metro areas and interconnects 103 cities across Europe and North America
- Three transatlantic subsea cables, including GTT Express, which GTT claims to be the lowest latency route between Europe and North America.
- Fourteen Tier 3 data centers and over 100 colocation facilities.
GTT has its headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, and is incorporated in Delaware, US. In 2019 it had revenues of USD1.7 billion up 15.9% on 2018, leading to a net loss of USD105.9 million.