Colt completes Lumen EMEA acquisition

Colt Technology Services (Colt), has closed the acquisition of the EMEA business of enterprise communications technology services provider Lumen for $1.8bn.

Working on a principle that “disrupting an industry requires a deep understanding of business needs and an investment in continuous innovation”, Lumen has built a portfolio that ranges from metro connectivity services to long-haul data transport, to edge cloud, security and managed service capabilities.

Just three months after it launched its first network-as-a-service (NaaS) capability, Lumen has expanded the offering, allowing industries in a number of areas to embrace it for flexible internet connections, helping them meet their unique connectivity needs.

Explaining why it believes the transaction marks a pivotal point – elevating the company to one of the world’s largest business-to-business-only telecoms players – and that it can bring renewed optimism to the European telecoms industry, Colt said the acquisition will provide greater choice and expansive global capabilities to enterprises investing in powerful, sustainable digital infrastructure as the driving force behind their organisations.

Questioning 1,100 senior IT decision-makers across APAC, Europe and the US, Colt found that 44% planned to extend their digital infrastructure to Europe and 40% to APAC. More than one in three (35%) plan to extend it to the Americas; 29% to the Middle East; and almost one in four (24%) plan to expand their network to Africa.

The acquisition will bring to Colt 2,700 customers, including blue chip corporations, leading enterprises and public sector customers, and enable it to expand the reach of its services via Points of Presence in Dubai, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Kenya, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa and Turkey.

In addition to existing on-demand and SD-WAN offerings, the company will now have an extended portfolio of new services, including new security technologies, SASE products, and managed hosting and professional services. Moreover, it will now have 1,300 new customer-focused employees across 16 countries; 1.6 million km of fibre connecting 125 European cities in 34 EMEA countries; 11,000 km of metropolitan network in 23 countries and the UAE; 12 cable landing stations in six countries; and 10 subsea cable systems – six transatlantic and four in Europe.

As part of the acquisition, Colt and Lumen Technologies will also enter into a partnership agreement which sees businesses in North America benefit from access to Colt’s award-winning digital infrastructure and services within and outside of North America.

Keri Gilder will remain as Colt’s CEO, supported by a skilled, diverse executive leadership team. “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,” she said.

“Our industry is on the cusp of ground-breaking transformation; it must deliver a digital roadmap for a hyperconnected global society in a responsible, fair and equitable way. Technology companies that will thrive in the future will be those with scale, adaptability and a strong sense of purpose. We’ve worked hard to build these capabilities. By staying true to our culture and commitments, and building our business around our customers’ success, we’re ready to write the next chapter in our story.”

“[Colt’s] mission has now gained wider global scale at a critical time,” said Camille Mendler of research firm Omdia. “Enterprises worldwide need steadfast partners to navigate profound changes in digital consumption, including network as a service, zero-trust security and hybrid cloud computing.”