Cogent Communications has nearly completed the restructuring of its debt and has raised $41 million in cash equity from investors to fund its operations. Over the last six months, Cogent has reduced its total debt from a face amount of over $380 million to $27 million and extended repayment terms, with the company's first principal payment due in 2006. The equity financing will be provided by JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners), Oak Investment Partners, Worldview Technology Partners, Broadview Capital Partners, Boulder Ventures, and Nassau Capital. Following the transaction the investors, Cisco Capital, and employees will own 99% of the company. Cogent said the restructuring will give it one of the strongest balance sheets in the ISP sector.
http://www.cogentco.com
- In May 2003. Cogent Communications activated optical Ethernet connectivity to its 700th building.
In February, Cogent acquired the Internet service business of Fiber Network Solutions, a privately-held service provider based in Columbus, Ohio. FNSI provides Internet service to some 400 businesses located in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
In September 2002, Cogent acquired network assets in New York City from FiberCity Networks. The deal included FiberCity's customer base and its building access agreements.
In April 2002, Cogent Communications acquired a significant portion of the portfolio of real estate access agreements from OnSite Access, a BLEC communications provider that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Also that month, Cogent acquired a majority of the U.S. assets of PSInet for $10 million.
Cogent Communications was founded in 1999 by Dave Schaeffer, the company's current CEO. Prior to founding Cogent, Schaeffer founded Pathnet.
