Conversent Buys REON Broadband

A facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) acquires a building local exchange carrier (BLEC), continuing Conversent's slow but steady string of acquisitions.

by boston.internet.com Staff [August 13, 2002]

Facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) Conversent Communications has expanded its New England network by buying multiple tenant unit (MTU) Internet provider REON Broadband for an undisclosed sum.

Separately, Conversent raised $9 million in from Seaport Capital and BancBoston Ventures (REON's financial partners) and private investors.

In all, Conversent has now raised $229 million since 1998. Six months ago, it banked $10 million in financing. It has bought up failing competitors, including USDataCenters in October of 2001.

"[Today's deals are] testament to the strength of Conversent and the confidence the business and investment communities have in our company," said Rob Shanahan, Conversent's president and CEO. "We have proven ourselves as a company capable of succeeding in even the most dire of economic environments."

Both Conversent and REON are based in Marlborough, Mass. Three-year-old REON, an acronym for Real Estate On Net, provides Internet, data storage, and network security services to more than 150 multi-tenant commercial buildings.

It now joins a company with 630 employees in 22 offices, providing voice and data services to 30,000 business customers from Maine to New Jersey. Privately held Conversent also has six Class 5 telephone switches and 80 data switches and more than 2000 miles of fiber-optic network.

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