Great Plains Communications – the largest privately-owned telecommunications provider in Nebraska – has acquired InterCarrier Networks of St. Louis, Missouri. Private equity firm Grain Management owns Great Plains and backed the deal. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
InterCarrier, founded in 2009, is a high-capacity, fiber-optic network carrier with unique routes in Illinois, Indiana, the St. Louis metro area, and Kentucky. InterCarrier uses a high-quality, ring-structured fiber-optic network covering 2,037 route miles to provide network services to major enterprises in the region, the company says.
Todd Foje, CEO of Great Plains Communications, commented on the deal:
“The Great Plains Communications vision has always been strategic growth in anticipation of the current and long-term needs of our customers. InterCarrier Networks is a valuable addition, enabling us to extend our market along existing ICN routes in Illinois and Indiana, while providing an exciting opportunity to bring new communications routes with valuable fiber broadband into two major underserved Kentucky markets. We look forward to serving these customers with the modern services and speeds they need to meet their goals and grow their businesses.”
Chad Crank, managing director at Grain, added:
“This strategic expansion is an early win towards our goal of accelerating growth to meet rising bandwidth demands. We continue to leverage Grain’s deep industry relationships to source high-value, strategic investments, and we are excited by the opportunities we continue to see to expand in the region and increase value.”
Great Plains itself was a family-owned service provider for more than 100 years until Grain Management acquired the firm in June 2018. The buyout set the stage for Great Plains to pursue network services acquisitions, the companies said at the time.
