Exclusive: Activist Sachem Head pushes Zayo to explore sale - sources

Activist hedge fund Sachem Head Capital Management has written a letter to communications infrastructure provider Zayo Group Holdings Inc urging it to explore a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The letter comes after Zayo rejected acquisition offers from a private equity consortium including Blackstone Group LP and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners LP, the sources added, asking not to be named because the matter is private.

Other private equity firms in the consortium include KKR & Co, I Squared Capital, Charlesbank Capital Partners and GTCR, which still owns a stake in the company.

Blackstone declined to comment. The other funds in the consortium could not be reached for comment. Sachem Head also declined to comment. Zayo could not be reached for comment.

The latest offer Zayo rejected valued the company at $30 per share, the sources added. Shares ended trading on Monday at $25.51 a share, giving it a market capitalization of roughly $6 billion.

Zayo also had about $6 billion in debt. If the private equity firms succeed in acquiring Zayo, it would represent one of the largest leveraged buyouts of the year.

Sachem Head has not threatened to launch a proxy fight but that option remains on the table, the people said. The hedge fund owns a 2 percent stake in the company, making it the 12th largest shareholder, according to Refinitiv data on Eikon.

Zayo had announced last November it would break itself up into two companies, but said last week it no longer believed it was in the company`s best interest to pursue a public spinoff as part of its strategic review.

Zayo, based in Boulder, Colorado, operates a fiber network in the United States and Europe that helps connects data centers and also serves wireless and landline phone companies.

It generated revenue of $639.1 million last quarter, which missed Refinitiv estimates of $642 million. Its quarterly net income of 12 cents per share missed analyst estimates by a cent.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)