The closure of the transaction is the final stage in Colt’s exclusive agreement with Lumen Technologies Inc. to purchase Lumen’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business.
Colt said the transaction will provide greater choice and expansive global capabilities to enterprises investing in powerful, sustainable digital infrastructure.
The acquisition adds scale to the company making it one of the world’s largest business-to-business-only telecoms companies. Keri Gilder will remain as Colt’s CEO, supported by her executive leadership team.
As part of the acquisition, Colt and Lumen Technologies Inc. will enter into a partnership agreement by which businesses in North America can access to Colt’s digital infrastructure and services within and outside of North America.
Keri Gilder, CEO, Colt Technology Services (pictured), said, “Closing this acquisition brings us to a momentous point in our growth journey and marks our deep commitment to our customers, helping them scale and grow.
“It brings us amazing new talent; extends our technology portfolio and our partner ecosystem; and significantly expands our digital infrastructure as we enter new markets across Eastern Europe, the UAE and parts of Africa.
“Our industry is on the cusp of groundbreaking transformation; it must deliver a digital roadmap for a hyperconnected global society in a responsible, fair and equitable way.”
Camille Mendler, chief analyst, enterprise services, Omdia, added, “Colt has always been relentless about delivering brilliant experiences to business customers. That mission has now gained wider global scale at a critical time.
“Enterprises worldwide need steadfast partners to navigate profound changes in digital consumption including network-as-a-service, zero-trust security and hybrid cloud computing.”
The acquisition creates a combined company with 1,300 new employees across 16 countries, 1,630,031 kilometres of fibre connecting 125 European cities in 34 EMEA countries, 11,000 kilometres of metropolitan network in 23 countries and the UAE, 12 cable landing stations in six countries, and 10 subsea cable systems (six of which are transatlantic and four are within Europe).