Jab Wireless Gobbles Essex Telcom in Latest Acquisition

By Josh Long

Jab Wireless, a wireless broadband service provider based in Colorado, recently acquired Essex Telcom, an Illinois-based competitive local exchange carrier serving consumers and small businesses.

Citing Federal Communications Commission filings, JSI Capital Advisors analyst Adam Brissette wrote in a blog that Essex Telcom will merge with Jabs wholly-owned subsidiary, Skybeam Inc.

Englewood, Colo.-based JAB Wireless serves 100,000 subscribers in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Texas, according to Brissette, whose employer JSI Capital Partners is a boutique investment bank focused on the communications, digital media and IT industries.

Jab Wireless has invested $77 million on 67 acquisitions since 2006 when it was founded, Brissette said, and the company estimates that 64,000 of its subscribers were obtained through its M&A strategy.

Revenues at Jab Wireless have climbed from $7 million in 2006 to $47 million last year, according to the analyst.

The Essex deal likely represents the first of many WISP [wireless Internet service provider] purchases on behalf of JAB Wireless in the Illinois market,” Brissette wrote. JAB is by far the largest WISP in its other markets, and looks to become the dominant provider in Northern Illinois as well.”

The analyst also said Jab Wireless recently closed on a financing agreement that will grant the company access to $40 million in fresh capital. Such an infusion could position the company to continue to grow through acquisitions.

Investors in Jab Wireless include ABRY Partners, GVC Capital LLC and Roaring Fork Capital SBIC, L.P.