Q Advisors – News

LiveOak Fiber, a regional service provider building and operating a world-class broadband network, announces its intent to acquire Glynn and Camden Counties fiber network assets from Alma Telephone Company (ATC) Broadband, a Telecommunications Company based in Alma, Georgia.

The strategic acquisition of ATC’s fiber network assets in these two counties allows LiveOak to strengthen its service delivery capabilities throughout the Golden Isles of Georgia’s Southeast coastline in Glynn and Camden County Georgia and will bring great advantages to residents and businesses in these underserved counties. Residents and Businesses can expect packages that start at 500Mbps and go up to 10 Gbps, include premium managed Wi-Fi with no contracts and no data caps. LiveOak is disrupting the market with its next-generation high-speed fiber broadband, offering internet the way it should be.

“Over the past several years, ATC has recognized the need for reliable residential broadband services in Glynn County and Camden County,” says Teddy Solomon, Chief Executive Officer of ATC Broadband. “This acquisition is a boon to the community. We are confident that LiveOak Fiber has the local resources, experience, and enthusiasm to take our network and expand it in a way that ensures both communities gain access to the best possible broadband experience.”

“The acquisition of this ATC Broadband fiber asset reinforces our commitment to serve the Golden Isles and enables LiveOak Fiber to expedite our timeline for buildout in Glynn County and expands our service area to include the businesses and residents of Camden County. We will build upon the great work of ATC by offering the highest quality Internet services and speeds in the region, coupled with superior local customer service,” adds Jody Craft, President at LiveOak Fiber.

The network assets LiveOak is acquiring from ATC were built to provide high-speed fiber network services to medical and business communities throughout Glynn and Camden Counties. Over its decades of telecommunications service experience, ATC’s robust network and pristine customer service has successfully competed against national service providers in South Georgia for many years. ATC looks forward to maintaining a portion of their customers and interests in this space and continuing to harness the healthy relationships that have made them who they are today.

Q Advisors, a leading global TMT investment bank, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to LiveOak in connection with this transaction.

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OMERS Infrastructure today announced that OMERS investments in TPG Telecom Limited’s mobile tower and rooftop portfolio, and Stilmark, an independent Australian developer, owner and operator of mobile tower assets, have now both reached completion. Both businesses, which will have a combined footprint of 1,400 tower and rooftop sites in Australia and growing quickly, will be combined and operate as a single business under a new brand, WaveConn.

Commenting on the news, Christopher Curtain, Senior Managing Director, Asia-Pacific for OMERS Infrastructure, said: “We have developed a strong relationship with and respect for the Stilmark management team and their capabilities. The strong focus on delivering innovative and market leading solutions for mobile network operators continues to be a key part of our interest in the company. Stilmark is an excellent fit for our new Australian digital infrastructure portfolio, as it complements our recent investment in TPG’s mobile tower and rooftop portfolio.”

WaveConn will be part of OMERS Infrastructure’s growing portfolio of assets in Australia, alongside Port of Melbourne, Transgrid and FRV Australia. It will also be part of OMERS Infrastructure’s global portfolio of digital infrastructure assets, alongside Deutsche Glasfaser/inexio in Germany, and XP Fibre in France.

Since its establishment in 2013, Stilmark has delivered numerous development and build projects for TPG and Optus, growing a national portfolio and pipeline of towers, with all sites secured under long-term revenue agreements. Stilmark is currently owned by its founders, management team, family offices and US-based ATN International.

Commenting on the sale, Stilmark Chairman, Graham Bradley, said: “We are delighted that our business will be joining the OMERS Infrastructure portfolio in Australia and are excited about the opportunities this creates for our team to continue our innovation leadership in the tower market. We are proud of our activity across Asia-Pacific to support and grow our portfolio in key sectors including digital infrastructure, mobility, and the energy transition.”

Christopher added: Australia and Asia-Pacific more broadly are priority markets for OMERS Infrastructure, where we continue to see significant investment opportunities. We are delighted these transactions have closed, and we look forward to working with the new team to establish WaveConn as an innovative and customer-focused provider of critical telecommunications infrastructure in Australia.”

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment bank, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Stilmark in connection with this transaction.

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Meriplex, a leader in managed cybersecurity, IT and SD-WAN solutions for SMB and mid-market enterprises in the United States, is pleased to announce the completion of a transaction in which Vitruvian Partners acquired a majority interest in Meriplex. Meriplex's existing shareholder Clairvest Group Inc. (TSX: CVG) (“Clairvest”) is retaining meaningful equity in Meriplex and will remain as a minority shareholder alongside the Meriplex management team led by Founder & CEO David Henley, who will continue to run the business.

Meriplex has a strong track record of industry-leading organic growth, financial performance and since 2018 has completed 13 acquisitions, expanding its reach to become a nationwide leader. EBITDA in 2022 is expected to be 10x of that achieved in 2017.

“Vitruvian Partners will help further accelerate our rapid growth, enabling us to continue to expand our nationwide footprint and capabilities to serve our customers better every day. We are excited about partnering with them and to continue our partnership with Clairvest” says David Henley, Founder & CEO of Meriplex. “I am very proud of what Meriplex has achieved over the last few years and am excited to continue growing Meriplex and our customer relationships alongside Vitruvian as our new private equity partner.”

David Nahama, Senior Partner at Vitruvian Partners, says: “We have been very impressed with the track record of growth at Meriplex and have seen the company consistently outperform, including executing multiple strategic acquisitions. Meriplex has established a nationwide leadership position in the highly attractive managed cybersecurity, IT and SD-WAN solutions markets, allowing it to deliver compelling and differentiated solutions to its customers, and underpin its attractiveness from an investment perspective. We approached David late last year and are delighted to be partnering with him, the broader Meriplex team and Clairvest on the next significant chapter of expansion and success for Meriplex.”

Luuk Remmen, Partner at Vitruvian Partners, adds: “Vitruvian Partner’s investment in Meriplex builds on our longstanding track-record and experience in cybersecurity, enterprise networking and managed services. Together with Clairvest, we believe we have significant capital and capabilities to support the growth and acquisition aspirations of Meriplex.”

“We are incredibly proud of the Meriplex team. They successfully executed an aggressive growth plan and matured the business into a national player,” says Mitch Green, Managing Director at Clairvest. “David and his team have been relentless in their pursuit of opportunities to grow and strengthen the business. We are thrilled to reinvest a meaningful equity stake into the transaction along with our management partners and welcome Vitruvian, whom we believe will be a great partner for this next stage of growth.”

Q Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Meriplex in connection with the transaction.

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11:11 Systems (“11:11”), a managed infrastructure solutions provider, today announced the acquisition of Static1, a leader in managed network and IT infrastructure development and services. Driving increased productivity, efficiency, and security for its customers, Static1 designs, builds, runs, and optimizes IT infrastructure.

The enterprise network infrastructure market is valued at $56B as of 2021, and is expected to grow significantly over the next five years. The shifting dynamics of remote work and the increased need for bandwidth and technology to enable the migration to wireless are major factors driving the growth of the connectivity market. IT leaders must ensure applications and data are connected, anywhere, anytime, but most businesses do not have the internal resources to manage those new complex infrastructure requirements.

“Feedback from customers has shown that there is a dearth of offerings that combine cloud, connectivity and security in one platform,” said Brett Diamond, CEO, 11:11 Systems. “We are focused on providing the platform for these three core pillars while ensuring that our customers’ apps and data are always running, accessible and protected. Static1 is a natural addition to our portfolio particularly because of the team’s significant depth in connectivity. With this acquisition, we will strengthen our existing managed services and add entrenched industry expertise and relationships to our portfolio.”

Static1 is a leader in complex industries such as media, entertainment, pharmaceutical, retail, financial services, and not-for-profits. Their services span the gamut from connectivity to security management to monitoring, network, infrastructure, and SD-Wan technology. Through this acquisition, Static1’s team and technology will complement 11:11’s recent acquisitions of Unitas, Cleareon, iland and Green Cloud Defense– each of which hold market leadership positions within the cloud, connectivity, and security spaces.

“11:11 and Static1 share a vision for addressing the most pressing issues that businesses face,” adds Anthony Lobretto, President, and CTO, Static1. “This exciting step forward benefits our customers with continued best-in-class support, greater uptime, reliability, and security, all while reaping the benefits of accessing the full spectrum of purpose-driven solutions 11:11 has to offer.”

11:11 is backed by Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a middle-market private equity firm that invests in growing infrastructure platforms.

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor and placement agent to 11:11 Systems in connection with this transaction and related debt financing.

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Visionary Broadband (“Visionary”, or the “Company”) has received a strategic investment from funds affiliated with GTCR LLC (“GTCR”), a leading private equity firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The transaction will allow Visionary to continue investing in the construction of new fiber broadband networks throughout Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana, and will prepare Visionary for match requirements in upcoming State-led grant programs.

Headquartered in Gillette, Wyoming, Visionary is a pioneering Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) serving residential and business subscribers in the Rocky Mountain region. Founded in 1994, Visionary has grown into one of the largest and most geographically diverse ISPs in the Rocky Mountain region, serving customers through the Company’s hybrid fiber and wireless network. In partnering with GTCR, Visionary Broadband will accelerate its ongoing network expansion in order to provide fiber-to-the-premise (“FTTP”) broadband to rural and underserved communities.

“This investment accelerates our commitment to deliver reliable, state-of-the-art gigabit internet where we live, work and play. We do what we say here at Visionary, and this allows us to do even more for both existing and future Visionary customers,” said Brian Worthen, CEO of Visionary Broadband. “GTCR shares our rural broadband focus, and we are excited to partner with them at this essential time for broadband.”

“The Visionary management team has built an incredible business with deep roots in the communities they serve,” said Stephen Jeschke, Managing Director at GTCR. “We are excited to partner with an experienced and entrepreneurial management team focused on hiring local and bringing multi-gigabit fiber-based internet access to their service areas.”

Visionary is actively constructing FTTP projects in several markets in its existing footprint. The initial builds include the Wyoming communities of Casper, Cheyenne, Gillette, Lander, Laramie, and Lusk, and Marble, Gunnison, and Walden in Colorado. Previously, Visionary completed FTTP projects in Dayton, LaGrange, Ranchester, and Yoder in Wyoming, and in Kremmling, Colorado. The Company is deploying XGS-PON, a passive-optic networking technology capable of ten gigabits per second to every home.

Visionary plans new fiber projects in communities that desire a relationship with a broadband provider, are focused on economic development and are engaged on behalf of their citizens.

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique acted as exclusive financial advisor to Visionary Broadband in connection with this transaction.

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Sangoma Technologies Corporation (TSX: STC; Nasdaq: SANG) ("Sangoma" or the “Company”), a trusted leader in delivering cloud-based Communications as a Service solutions for companies of all sizes, today announced it has acquired NetFortris Corporation (“NetFortris”). This acquisition further accelerates Sangoma into the upper echelon of SaaS communications providers and extends our industry leading suite of cloud services with new MSP capabilities, thereby delivering even more ‘one stop shopping’ for our customers and providing larger ‘share of wallet’ for Sangoma.

NetFortris provides UCaaS and cloud-based, fully managed MSP (managed service provider) solutions for businesses of all sizes and across all industries. They have approximately 250 employees and four primary offices in Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Manila. In addition to NetFortris’ UCaaS offering, their MSP product line delivers all the mission critical communications services that customers need to complement their ‘as a Service’ applications, such as managed network security, managed SD-WAN, managed network access, monitoring, etc. These MSP services are built upon a highly integrated, end-to-end managed network, backed up by an expert 24/7 network engineering team. NetFortris has over 6,000 customers in North America, over 60,000 seats, with very low customer concentration, and generates expected annualized revenue of just over USD $50 million.

“A critical part of our existing strategy, and of our competitive differentiation, involves providing customers with the widest set of cloud communications services in our industry, avoiding the need for them to buy five different services from five different vendors,” said Bill Wignall, President, and CEO of Sangoma. “The acquisition of NetFortris further extends that strategy in such a perfectly natural manner. Not only can customers already get from Sangoma all the ‘aaS’ products they use today, but now they will also be able to obtain all the other cloud-based MSP services they know they need, such as managed network security, managed access, and managed SD-WAN. This truly is ‘one stop shopping’ for our customers, and it taps into that very important new trend that so many of us in the industry see starting to emerge. I am most excited about this acquisition, our eleventh in eleven years, because it demonstrates our innovative, unique, forward-looking vision and it continues to push Sangoma ahead in the market, further differentiating us from the competition.”

Q Advisors, a telecom, media, and technology global investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor to NetFortris in connection with this transaction.

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Bridgepointe Technologies, a leading IT strategy firm that provides unbiased solutions to help midmarket and enterprise companies meet their technology needs, today announced a strategic growth investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners. Bridgepointe raised more than $100 million in total as part of the transaction. The capital will be used to fuel continued growth including partner recruitment and enablement, service and brand expansion, and the addition of key personnel. The investment will also provide significant capital to fund acquisitions.

Based in San Mateo, CA, Bridgepointe was founded in 2002 on the principle that businesses need a strategic partner and advocate when procuring, implementing, and maintaining IT services and infrastructure. The Company's IT Strategists offer business leaders direct access to a large portfolio of vendor-agnostic solutions, employing a six-step model that starts with getting to know a client's business, challenges, and goals, and culminates in recommendations and support around supplier selection.

"As businesses are contending with the future of work, IT teams have never needed a trusted partner more for strategic guidance and tactical assistance," said Scott Evars, Bridgepointe Co-Founder. "Growing demand for our services in key areas like UCaaS, CCaaS, Data Centers, Cloud, SD-WAN and Security, means now is the time for us to maximize our growth potential. With this investment, we'll be able to fast-track customer adoption and partner recruitment, as well as enhance our offerings."

"We are proud of our accomplishments since the day we started Bridgepointe, and our mission will not change," said Brian Miller, Bridgepointe Co-Founder. "We're the market leader in helping clients find the signal in the noise and make the right technology choices at the right price. Charlesbank's strategic investment will enable us to aggressively seek out partners who do the same and to double down on supporting our customers, IT Strategists and suppliers."

"Buyers of technology today can be easily overwhelmed by a vast range of choices, solutions and integrations, and Bridgepointe's IT Strategists serve a crucial role in helping businesses save time, money and stress," said Pedro Vaz, Managing Director at Charlesbank. "We see great potential for Bridgepointe in this highly fragmented market as traditional solutions move to the cloud and the Company continues to expand its core areas of focus. We look forward to helping Bridgepointe build on its reputation and brand to capitalize on these exciting market opportunities."

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Bridgepointe in connection with the transaction.

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Thompson Street Capital Partners (“TSCP”), a private equity firm based in St. Louis, has announced the closing of its first Continuation Fund capitalized by AlpInvest and a leading group of limited partners.

The Continuation Fund was established to acquire Revenue Management Solutions (“RMS”) and BCM One Holdings, Inc (“BCM One”). The transaction closed with a combined enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion and the Continuation Fund includes substantial additional capital to drive organic growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions at both companies.

The transaction was led by AlpInvest, a subsidiary of Carlyle Global Investment Solutions, and supported by a diverse group of high-quality investors, including both TSCP Fund IV and Fund V limited and general partners. The transaction includes significant equity contributions from the founders and management of both companies. BCM One, a TSCP Fund V investment, delivers managed services to support unified communications, network management and optimization, and other technical services to more than 20,000 customers and channel partners.

“Establishing our first continuation fund represents a significant event for Thompson Street Capital Partners,” said Bob Dunn, Managing Partner of TSCP. “BCM One and RMS are two of the best-performing portfolio companies in TSCP’s twenty-year history and we are excited to continue our partnership with both businesses through this vehicle.”

Geoff Bloss, BCM One’s CEO said, “The resources TSCP provides has allowed us to better assist our customers in managing complex, scalable technologies to meet their network needs while remaining focused on our own prospects for growth. We’re excited about their additional support and our ability to position ourselves for continued success moving forward as a leading managed service provider around its Next Gen Communication offerings.”

Brian Kornmann, Managing Director at TSCP, added “We are grateful to AlpInvest and all the investors who supported this effort. We have been fortunate to partner with RMS and BCM One and look forward to working closely with the executive teams and founders of the businesses to continue to aggressively pursue, and execute on, growth strategies to continue the strong performance of both businesses.”

Garrett Hall, Managing Director at AlpInvest said, “We are excited to expand our partnership with Thompson Street Capital Partners and support two exceptional companies in their continued value creation on behalf of new and existing investors.”

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as financial advisor to BCM One in connection with the transaction.

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Dialpad Inc., the industry leader in AI-powered communication and collaboration, today announced its acquisition of Koopid, the premier AI-driven platform for an omnichannel customer experience (CX). The addition of Koopid technology will bring comprehensive omnichannel support, including chat, messaging, self-service, and social media, to Dialpad Contact Center. Koopid will seamlessly integrate with Dialpad Voice Intelligence (Vi™) to optimize CX through easy-to-use digital engagement and empower brands to differentiate with personalized customer service.

“The Age of the Customer has transitioned into The Experience Age where the customer, employee and end user experience is now the great differentiator.” said Craig Walker, CEO, Dialpad. “The legacy on-premises providers, along with the first generation of cloud platforms, curb their customers’ ability to meet the rapidly changing needs of the modern consumer. Koopid digital engagement technology, as well as our recent acquisition of Kare Knowledgeware, will help Dialpad lead this industry from the front with innovative solutions for the complexities of tomorrow.”

With the acquisition of Koopid, Dialpad will offer a superior omnichannel experience enabling companies to improve digital engagement with customers and build brand loyalty. The Koopid CX platform enables brands to deliver a modern, connected, and personalized customer experience within and across all digital channels. Koopid technology simplifies customer-to-company engagement and offers a broad spectrum of channels, empowering the customer to initiate contact through any channel. The infusion of Koopid’s omnichannel technology with Dialpad AI will offer companies a 360-degree view of customer interactions and synchronize conversations across all channels to boost CX by eliminating account detail repetition by the customer.

“Koopid is thrilled to join Dialpad, the fastest-growing and most innovative company in the combined Unified Communications as a Service and Contact Center as a Service space,” said Dr. Venky Krishnaswamy, CEO and co-founder of Koopid. “The contact center software industry is wide open for disruption and will be led by only the most forward-thinking organizations offering complete, cutting-edge solutions. We anticipate a bright future together and look forward to leading CCaaS innovation as part of the Dialpad team.”

“Dialpad is building agile and flexible cloud contact center solutions for the next generation of forward-thinking customer service providers and Koopid is a key piece to enhance our offering,” continued Walker. “The addition of Koopid’s revolutionary technology brings full omnichannel support to Dialpad Contact Center and offers Dialpad customers the most advanced AI-powered cloud solutions in the contact center industry.”

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment bank, acted as financial advisor to Koopid in connection with this transaction.

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Sangoma Technologies Corporation (“Sangoma”) (TSXV: STC), a trusted leader in delivering cloud-based Communications-as-a-Service (“CaaS”) solutions, announced that it has completed its previously reported acquisition of all of the shares of StarBlue Inc. (the parent company of Star2Star Communications, LLC, (“Star2Star”)) from Star2Star Holdings, LLC and Blue Face Holdings Limited.

“Customers today are demanding an integrated buying experience for all their communications needs and the combination of Sangoma and Star2Star will satisfy that need with the broadest set of cloud-native CaaS and related solutions in the industry,” said Bill Wignall, President and CEO of Sangoma. “This transaction ensures we can meet any customer’s preference, be it for purely cloud solutions, on-premise deployments, or a hybrid combination, all the way from small businesses to large enterprises. For many years, we have consciously pursued a strategy to transform Sangoma from a product business to one of the communications industry’s leading SaaS companies. This deal is incredibly exciting not only because it will generate scale in a growing, consolidating space, but also because by combining with Star2Star we will have completed our long-term evolution into a leading cloud services company, one with annual revenue approaching $250 million.”

Star2Star, based in Sarasota, Florida, is a privately-held leading provider of full-spectrum, internally developed, cloud-native communications services delivered via a high availability, multi-tenant platform. Star2Star targets the highest value market segments in business communications, including mid-market and enterprise size customers, through solutions that enable digital transformation. Star2Star's offerings include a comprehensive suite of voice, contact center, collaboration, integration, video meetings, Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS), and Desktop as a Service solutions that work on any device from PC's to desk phones to mobile softphones, all accessible from anywhere.

“We are thrilled to combine forces with Sangoma because we have so many complementary strengths,” said Norman Worthington, founder and CEO at Star2Star. I’ve come to genuinely appreciate Bill’s vision for our combined companies in how we share a view on how to profitably grow in this exciting market, a viewpoint that’s unique in our industry. Sangoma was the perfect fit for us because they identified and appreciated our talented team, loyal customers and unique go to market approach."

Star2Star has a differentiated channel approach, employing over 650 active partners across multiple types of channels, from resellers and interconnects, to managed services providers and enterprise technology partners to wholesale and white label distributors.

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, represented Star2Star in connection with this transaction.

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Q Advisors and Acuity Advisors, members of a global TMT investment banking alliance, announced the joint representation of acting as the exclusive financial advisors to Mission Labs Limited (“Mission Labs”), a leading provider of Unified Communications as a Service (“UCaaS”) and Contact Center as a Service Solutions (“CCaaS”) to enterprises and the public sector in the United Kingdom, in connection with its sale to Gamma Communications plc (“Gamma”), a leading U.K. and European Cloud and Communications provider.

Gamma provides robust, innovative, and secure market-leading cloud-based services, including SIP Trunking and Hosted PBX, to enable organizations to communicate, collaborate, and offer a better customer experience. Mission Labs is a UCaaS technology business known for creating technologically advanced solutions and delivering great service to its customers and partners. This acquisition gives Gamma additional capabilities in the rapidly evolving Cloud Communications and CCaaS markets.

“We hired Q Advisors and Acuity Advisors for their deep knowledge of the cloud and managed services sectors, particularly around Contact Center and UCaaS, and their ability to understand the strategy of all the global players in the space,” commented Damian Hansen, CEO and Founder of Mission Labs. “We are excited for our new relationship with Gamma and could not be more pleased with the financial and strategic outcome for Mission Labs, our stakeholders, and employees. It was great working with advisors who listened to our objectives, first and foremost, and were able to secure an industry-leading multiple for our business.”

“We were honored to be chosen by Mission Labs and their investors, and working with them was a great experience leading to an industry-leading multiple in the CCaaS space,” said Michael Quinn, Founding Partner at Q Advisors. “Our first transaction with our new alliance partner, Acuity, was an exciting accomplishment and produced a great result for our mutual client.”

“Together with Q Advisors, we are proud to have supported Mission Labs on their sale to Gamma, with one of the highest valuations achieved in the contact center sector. This transaction in the Telecoms, Cloud, and Managed Services space has firmly established Acuity’s U.S. alliance with Q Advisors,” said Richard Baker, Managing Partner at Acuity Advisors.

Q Advisors, the leading global cloud and managed service investment bank in the sector, has closed more than 160 deals in the U.S. and Europe to date. This transaction marks the team’s 30th cloud transaction in Europe and 3rd opposite Gamma plc.

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Ribbon Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: RBBN) and American Virtual Cloud Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVCT) today announced that they have completed the previously announced acquisition of Kandy Communications (Kandy) by AVCT.

Kandy complements AVCT's April 2020 acquisition of Stratos Management Systems, Inc. (dba Computex Technology Solutions) by providing a full suite of UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS products to serve the rapidly growing cloud communications market. Customers today demand a highly reliable, secure, and scalable communications platform along with a world class customer experience.

AVCtechnologies offers end-to-end services spanning from managed IT solutions, managed services, and cloud communications, delivered by certified experts to provide exceptional white glove customer experience to business customers, service providers, independent software vendors, and system integrators. AVCtechnologies is now positioned as a premier white label provider of choice for UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS.

"We are very pleased to welcome Kandy to the AVCtechnologies family," said Xavier Williams, Chief Executive Officer of AVCtechnologies. Williams added, "Kandy will be our linchpin, enabling us to provide carrier grade, global cloud communications that address the needs of medium and large enterprises. As the velocity of public, hybrid, and private cloud communications continues, we are in a fortunate position to be able to focus on execution while competitors in our space need to concentrate on platform capabilities, global expansion and improved customer experience. Kandy's world class, globally-deployed, carrier grade, white-labeled proprietary communications platform gives AVCtechnologies the ability to solve customer communication needs. Kandy's platform, significant growth trajectory, and global marquee customer and partner base, including AT&T, City of Los Angeles, IBM, and Etisalat (the largest telecom provider in the UAE), accelerates our go to market plans and enables us to expand our award-winning portfolio."

Bruce McClelland, Ribbon's CEO, stated, "We are impressed with the depth of talent and vision of the AVCtechnologies' management team and believe that with the addition of the innovative Kandy team, the company will continue to provide excellent service to channel partners and customers. We are confident that AVCT is poised to unlock additional value with Kandy, and we are excited to be a shareholder of the Company."

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Ribbon’s Kandy Communications.

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365 Data Centers, a leading provider of network-centric colocation and other Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions, announces its acquisition of Atlantic Metro Communications, which provides tailored colocation, network and cloud services to large and mid-size enterprises. While continuing to build 365's presence in the data-intensive northeast corridor, the transaction solidifies 365's position as one of the largest, privately held IaaS providers in the Eastern U.S.

The acquisition adds a data center facility in Herndon, Virginia, along with partner-operated colocation space and available power in northern Virginia and Los Angeles. The transaction delivers 65 additional network points-of-presence (PoPs), particularly in the Boston, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Virginia metro markets and several international locations. The deal also contributes cloud platforms in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Miami and Los Angeles. 365 is now positioned to serve customers at its 13 redundantly interconnected data centers and five additional partner-operated facilities, and from 86 PoPs and seven cloud platform locations.

"This transaction is a milestone event for both companies," says Bob DeSantis, Chief Executive Officer of 365 Data Centers. "365's acquisition of a highly respected business with a track record of providing customers with high touch, hybrid infrastructure solutions is a tribute to Atlantic Metro's management and employees, who will become part of the 365 team. For 365, this acquisition expands our geographic and infrastructure footprint, complements our existing IaaS offerings, and significantly increases our customer base, revenue, and cash flow - all of which greatly benefits our customers. 365 remains strategically disciplined with a focus on network-centric colocation assets and complementary network and virtual services in edge markets within the northeast quadrant of the United States, Tennessee and Florida."

Atlantic Metro's founders and key leaders will join the 365 executive team, reporting to DeSantis. Stephen Klenert has been named 365's Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions & Implementation; James Cornman becomes 365's Chief Technology Officer; and Steve Oakie joins 365 as Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing. "The product knowledge and expertise of these industry veterans will be invaluable as we quickly integrate into one, robust 365 brand," comments DeSantis.

"Since 2011, we've built a company that we're very proud of and did it without a lot of capital," says Matthew Lombardi, CEO of Atlantic Metro. "This transaction will enable continued growth through increased investment in infrastructure and managed services. 365 has a talented team of experienced investors, operators, and technologists who share our vision and bring enterprise-scale resources. This combined technology platform provides 365 with an advantage at an exciting time in our industry."

The Atlantic Metro acquisition continues 365's rapid growth trend. Over the last year, the company acquired colocation businesses and facilities in New Jersey and Long Island. Last month, 365 announced that Stonecourt Capital acquired a majority stake in the company and original investors Lumerity Capital and Longboat Advisors reinvested into the new partnership. That transaction provided 365 with substantial financial resources to fund its internal and external growth strategies.

Q Advisors, a global TMT investment banking boutique, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Atlantic Metro. Shipman & Goodwin LLP and Polsinelli PC served as legal counsel to 365, and Ferdinand IP served as legal counsel to Atlantic Metro. Affiliated funds and accounts of Cerberus Business Finance, Everberg Capital, and ORIX Corporation USA's Special Opportunities Group provided financing for the transaction.

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Q Advisors, a global telecom, media, and technology (TMT) investment banking boutique, announces today that the firm has promoted four key team members to further the firm’s global growth and continued success.

Hayley Hughes Morabito promoted to Vice President. Morabito joined Q Advisors in 2014 and has executed mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings and strategic advisory for clients across the telecom, media, and technology (TMT) industries with an emphasis on the cloud communications, managed services, and digital media sectors.

Dominick Robusto, CFA, promoted to Vice President. Robusto joined Q Advisors in 2019. He has successfully completed several mergers and acquisitions and financings for TMT industry clients. Robusto specializes in transactions focused on digital broadband, wireless, and fiber sectors, as well as software and hardware technologies related to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Wes Faulkenberry promoted to Senior Associate. Faulkenberry joined Q Advisors in 2018 and has been working with the team on mergers and acquisitions and strategic advisory assignments for Q Advisors’ TMT clients. He will play a more prominent role leading client relationships and strategy utilizing his unique financial expertise.

Austin Foster promoted to Associate. Foster joined Q Advisors in 2018. He brings a wide range of experience and insight to his new position due to his extensive work with mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity financings in the TMT industry with a focus on enterprise software, fiber infrastructure, and managed services.

“Hayley, Dominick, Wes and Austin have been vital to the growth of Q Advisors, and we are proud to recognize their contributions to our firm’s success with these promotions,” comments Michael Quinn, Founding Partner at Q Advisors. “We are confident they will be even more effective in their new roles as Q Advisors continues to expand its global footprint.”

In addition to its M&A practice, Q Advisors’ capital markets and private placement team have extensive experience on both sides of financing transactions, having served as advisors with industry-leading financing institutions. The team has also raised significant equity and debt capital in founding and managing operating companies. This unique blend of advisory and operating experience enables Q Advisors to bring real-world solutions to financing strategies. As owners who know what it’s like to live with the terms of growth or recapitalization financing, Q Advisors is uniquely skilled at structuring institutional debt, equity, and hybrid financing to public and private companies in the telecom, media, and technology sectors.

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Recent News

Q Advisors Represents Viirtue in Growth Equity Financing by Ballast Point Ventures

Q Advisors Represents Westpole in the Sale of its Italian Business Unit to Cegeka

Michael McHugh Joins Q Advisors Digital Infrastructure Practice as Managing Director

Giuseppe Donagemma, Former President Europe of Nokia and CEO of Nokia Siemens Europe, Joins Q Advisors to Further Accelerate Growth

Q Advisors Represents LiveOak Fiber in Acquisition of Alma Telephone Company’s Fiber Network Assets in Glynn and Camden Counties

Q Advisors Represents zLinq in Growth Equity Financing by McCarthy Capital

Q Advisors Represents Dstny in its Acquisition of easybell

Q Advisors Represents Intrado in Acquisition of OnSIP by Ooma

Q Advisors Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor to 11:11 Systems in its Acquisition of Sungard Availability Services’ Cloud and Managed Services Business

Q Advisors Represents Stilmark in Connection with its Acquisition by OMERS Infrastructure

Q Advisors Represents Intrado in Connection with its Enterprise Voice and Network Transaction with Fusion Connect

Q Advisors Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Meriplex in its Acquisition by New Majority Shareholder, Vitruvian Partners

Q Advisors Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor and Placement Agent to 11:11 Systems in its Acquisition of Static1

Q Advisors Represents Visionary Broadband in Strategic Equity Investment by GTCR

Q Advisors Represents 11:11 Systems in its Acquisition of Unitas Global’s Managed Service and Cloud Assets and Cleareon Fiber Networks’ Connectivity Assets

Q Advisors Represents NetFortris in Acquisition by Sangoma

Q Advisors Appoints TMT Industry Veteran, Dmitry Netis, to Help Drive the Firm’s Continued Growth

Q Advisors Represents Flowroute in Acquisition of Assets by BCM One

Q Advisors Brings Noteworthy Speaker Lineup to Cloud Comms Summit London 2022

Q Advisors Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor and Placement Agent in Connection with CallTower’s Acquisition of OneStream Networks

Q Advisors Represents Akixi in Equity Recapitalization by Axiom Equity and True North Advisory

Q Advisors Represents NextLevel Internet in its Acquisition by Digerati

Q Advisors and Unreasonable Group Announce Strategic Partnership

Q Advisors Represents Bridgepointe Technologies in Equity Recapitalization by Charlesbank Capital Partners

Q Advisors Represents BCM One in Equity Recapitalization by Thompson Street Capital Partners

Q Advisors Represents 11:11 Systems in its Acquisition of iland

Q Advisors Represents Magna5 Telecom in its Acquisition by RingSquared

Q Advisors Celebrates 20th Anniversary Milestone

Q Advisors Represents Koopid in its Acquisition by Dialpad

Q Advisors Represents Green Cloud Defense in its Acquisition by 11:11 Systems

Q Advisors Represents Telestax in its Acquisition by Mavenir

Q Advisors Represents WCS in its Acquisition by Thompson Street Capital Partners Platform BCM One

Q Advisors Represents Mitel in the Sale of its Telepo Division to Destiny

Q Advisors Represents Brodynt in its Acquisition by Expereo

Q Advisors Represents Telco Experts in its Acquisition by Evergreen Services Group

Q Advisors Represents ALLOcloud in its Acquisition by Telavox

Q Advisors Represents Destiny in its Acquisition of Soluno

Q Advisors and Acuity Advisors Represent Innoveo in its Equity Financing by Paulson & Co

Global Banking Finance & Review - The Impact of a Disruptive Year: Six Emerging Cybersecurity Themes for 2021

Now Available: Consolidation or Marginalization - What’s Next for Cloud Comms and Collaboration Presentation

Q Advisors Represents Star2Star in its Acquisition by Sangoma

Now Available On-Demand: Q Advisors Cloud Comms Summit Europe Fireside Chat

Q Advisors Joins Cloud Comms Summit Europe

Q Advisors and Acuity Advisors Represent Mission Labs in its Acquisition by Gamma Communications

Q Advisors Represents Green Cloud Technologies in its Acquisition of Cascade Defense

Q Advisors Talks to JSA TV about the Outlook for M&A Global Transactions

Q Advisors Represents Absolute Performance in its Recapitalization by Seaside Equity Partners

Q Advisors Advises Thompson Street Capital Partners on its Acquisition of SkySwitch

Q Advisors Represents Ribbon Communications in Its Sale of Kandy to American Virtual Cloud Technologies

Q Advisors Continues European Expansion with New Office in Munich and Appoints Kristian MacCarter as Managing Director

Q Advisors Represents Atlantic Metro in its Acquisition by 365 Data Centers

Global Fintech Series - The Future Face of Cloud Native Computing

Leading Investment Banks Q Advisors and Acuity Advisors Form Strategic Alliance

Q Advisors Speaks with Reorg About Increased Remote Services M&A and COVID-19 Impact

Telecom Ramblings Industry Spotlight - Q Advisors on Cloud Native Trends

Q Advisors Speaks With UC Today to Discuss Why Communication is Key to Cash Flow During COVID-19

Q Advisors Represents VozTelecom in Its Acquisition by Gamma Communications

Q Advisors Represents nexVortex in Its Acquisition by Thompson Street Capital Partners

Connectivity Business - Q Advisors Talks Cloud Native Tech Acceleration as a Result of Pandemic

Q Advisors Represents TPx in Its Acquisition by Siris Capital Group

Q Advisors Represents Apax Partners SAS and Destiny Founders in Recapitalization Transaction

Q Advisors Represents Blueface in Its Acquisition by Comcast

Q Advisors Announces Multiple Team Member Promotions

Q Advisors and TMT Finance Discuss the Future of the European Cloud and UCaaS Dealmaking

Cloud Comms Summit – Q Advisors Provides Insight on Building Shareholder Value in a Cloud Communications Business

Q Advisors Establishes Amsterdam Presence to Meet Increasing Activity in European Cloud and Managed Services Sector

Authority Magazine - A Recognized Top Female Executive, Q Advisors’ Jordan Rupar, Discusses How the Chances of Promotion Come with Performance and Visibility

Fierce Wireless - Industry Voices: Network Sharing Signals a Path to the Future

Q Advisors Represents DeCurtis Corporation in Its Recapitalization by Shamrock Capital

TalkingHeadz Podcast: Q Advisors Discusses Mergers and Acquisitions in the UCaaS and Cloud Managed Services Sector

Q Advisors Represents STARFACE in Its Recapitalization by Funds Advised by Maxburg Capital Partners

Q Advisors Represents Metro Optical in Its Acquisition by Momentum Telecom

Telecom Reseller (Podcast) - Q Advisors on Guiding Cloud Leaders on Finance and M&A

Q Advisors Represents Four Winds Interactive in its Recapitalization by Vista Equity Partners

Q Advisors Represents SwiftReach Networks in its Acquisition by Rave Mobile Safety

Q Advisors Represents SpeedConnect in its Strategic Sale

Connectivity Business: Why the time is right for TMT businesses to explore strategic options

Q Advisors Represents Dean One in its Acquisition by Gamma Communications

Q Advisors Represents Meriplex Communications in its Equity Recapitalization by Clairvest Group