Level 3 Plunks Down $165 Million for Looking Glass

Less than a week after closing its acquisition of ICG Communications, Level 3 Communications Inc. on Monday said it will continue its buying spree by paying $165 million for Looking Glass Networks Inc.

The deal is expected to be wrapped up in the third quarter. Level 3 will pay total consideration to Looking Glass’ security holders of $96 million, consisting of $87 million in unregistered shares of Level 3 common stock and $9 million in cash. At closing, Level 3 also will pay Looking Glass liabilities of approximately $69 million, which are primarily senior secured debt.

Looking Glass will be added to Level 3s recently announced Metro Services business unit. The Oak Brook, Ill., company provides data transport services that include SONET/SDH, Wavelength and Ethernet, and dark fiber and carrier-neutral colocation.

Level 3 said its purchases of Progress Telecom, ICG, TelCove and Looking Glass over the past four months bring the number of traffic aggregation points directly connected to its fiber to approximately 5,100 in the United States and approximately 5,300 globally.

“Looking Glass has a strong base of customers who buy a wide range of transport services in the largest U.S. metro markets, said Lynn E. Refer, CEO of Looking Glass, in a prepared statement. We believe they will benefit greatly from the combination of our existing platform with the advanced capabilities and reach of Level 3’s broad network and services.

Credit Suisse acted as sole financial advisor to Looking Glass. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as the company’s legal advisor. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as Level 3’s legal advisor.

Level 3 Communications Inc. www.level3.com
Looking Glass Networks www.lglass.net