Zayo To Acquire Electric Lightwave For $1.42 Billion In Cash

Zayo Group Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Electric Lightwave for $1.42 billion in cash. Electric Lightwave provides infrastructure and telecom services primarily in the Western United States, and has 8,100 route miles of long haul fiber and 4,000 miles of dense metro fiber in Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Spokane and Boise, Zayo said in a statement. Zayo, a provider of communications infrastructure services, said it expects to realize $40 million of annual cost synergies from the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. The company also expects to benefit from more than $400 million in net operating loss carryforwards it will take on as part of the deal. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 30% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained about 8%.