Iowa Internet services providers (ISP) ImOn Communications has acquired local ISP FiberComm.
This week Cedar Rapids-based ImOn Communications announced it entered into an agreement to acquire the company. Founded in 1997, FiberComm provides Internet and VOIP services and operates a data center in Sioux City.
“ImOn and FiberComm share a vision to provide reliable, high-quality services and responsive, caring customer support in our respective markets,” said Patrice Carroll, CEO of ImOn. “We look forward to working with FiberComm’s excellent team to build ImOn’s service footprint in the Western part of Iowa and provide fiber broadband services to both residents and businesses in the Sioux City area.”
Al Aymar, CEO of FiberComm, added: “The FiberComm team is excited by the opportunity ImOn brings to Sioux City. Both residents and businesses in our community will benefit greatly from the fast, reliable fiber-to-the-premise broadband services and superior level of customer care.”
The acquisition of FiberComm will be ImOn’s first expansion of its service footprint outside of Eastern Iowa. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close later this year, weren’t shared.
FiberComm’s carrier hotel data center, located at 713 Nebraska St. in Sioux City, was retrofitted from a former office supply store in 2019 for $6 million. Built in 1920, the three-story, 33,000 sq ft building was originally host to a number of car dealerships until the 1970s when office supplier General Business Equipment took over. The company has a second location at 1605 9th St.
As part of the agreement, Minnesota-based ISP Nuvera will sell its stake in FiberComm to ImOn. Nuvera currently holds a 20 percent interest in FiberComm through its wholly-owned subsidiary Peoples Telephone Company.
“Focusing on our core assets enables Nuvera to make investments across the service area where we are directly serving customers,” said Glenn Zerbe, CEO of Nuvera. “We’re always evaluating our strategic investment portfolio and making decisions about non-core assets that allow us to accelerate business priorities.”
Also founded in 2007, ImOn operates a 2,000 fiber network serving the Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Dubuque, Hiawatha, Iowa City, and Marion areas of Iowa. The company was acquired by the Infrastructure investing business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management acquired in April last year.
Charlesmead Advisors, LLC, served as the exclusive advisor to FiberComm on the transaction. ImOn was advised by Shuttleworth & Ingersoll and Morgan Lewis & Bockius.