Colt Technology Services, headquartered in London, completed its acquisition of Lumen Technologies’ European, Middle Eastern, and African (EMEA) business. Colt paid US$1.8 billion cash for the assets, which included Lumen’s entire terrestrial and subsea networks, data center and networkservices in the region. The deal also includes Lumen’s trans-Atlantic subsea networks, the regional employees and customers contracts.
Regarding the Internet backbone (Autonomous System 3356), this IP infrastructure will be owned regionally by a respective Colt or Lumen affiliate, but it will be co-managed by multiple entities. Rather than split the AS3356 along the physical asset ownership boundaries, Lumen and Colt are building a long-term commercial relationship to maintain and operate this IP network globally.
The acquisition – which brings Colt 2,700 customers including blue chip corporations, leading enterprises and public sector customers – sees Colt expand the reach of its services via PoPs (Points of Presence) in Dubai, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Kenya, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa and Turkey.
“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,” states Keri Gilder, CEO, Colt Technology Services.
“We’re excited about what this transaction does for our customers and for Lumen,” said Kate Johnson, Lumen CEO. “Our focus on building deep relationships with strategic partners allows us to simplify our business while delivering a seamless networking experience for our multinational customers. Through our strong relationship with Colt, both companies are well positioned for future growth.”
