LOS ANGELES & HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Gores Group, a leading Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced that through an affiliate it has completed the acquisition of Alpheus Communications, one of the largest fiber network and data center operators in Texas, from Genesis Park, L.P. and El Paso Corporation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Gores Group also announced that Scott Widham, an entrepreneur in the media and telecom industries for 30 years, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Alpheus.
As previously announced, The Gores Group is considering the combination of Alpheus, which has a strong presence in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio —four of the fastest growing markets in the United States — with First Communications, an existing Gores portfolio company. The acquisition includes more than 2,800 route miles of long-haul fiber and nearly 3,250 metro route miles, bringing the total of the First Communications network to over 10,500 fiber route miles.
“Alpheus Communications is a great addition to The Gores Group portfolio of companies. Alpheus provides us with a tremendous opportunity to expand upon our current telecommunications holdings, particularly our fiber and high bandwidth transport services businesses,” said Ashley Abdo, Managing Director of The Gores Group. “In addition to the network assets, the deal brings additional sales and operational experience that will help us continue to expand our holdings.”
Widham stated, "I am very excited with this acquisition and am thrilled to be working with this accomplished leadership team. Alpheus has a state of the art network with a long history of quality customer service. We will continue to aggressively roll out new products and expand our access network in high growth Texas cities."
Alpheus Communications’ deep metro network, as well as its reputation and long-term customer tenures, were key considerations for the acquisition. In addition, First Communications can easily layer its core services, including Premium Ethernet, Ethernet DIA and Essential T1, onto the existing Alpheus platform to meet the specific needs of any size business.
About Alpheus Communications
Alpheus Communications (http://www.alpheuscommunications.com) is a provider of high bandwidth transport, Direct Internet Access (DIA) and data center services for carrier, government and enterprise customers. With owned facilities in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley, Alpheus is flexible, content-neutral and responsive to customer needs when low-latency and uptime are essential. As the preferred fiber backbone for Metro Texas, Alpheus is in a unique position to support mission-critical information technology functions and cloud computing solutions through resilient SAS 70-compliant data center platforms for colocation and disaster recovery.
About The Gores Group, LLC
The Gores Group, LLC is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. The Gores Group, which was founded in 1987 by Alec E. Gores, has become a leading investor having demonstrated over time a reliable track record of creating substantial value in its portfolio companies alongside management. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Gores Group maintains offices in Boulder, CO, and London. For more information, please visit www.gores.com