Bow River Capital Expands NextEdge, Its Telecommunications Services Platform with Acquisitions of Tachyon and Spectrum Services

DENVER, July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bow River Capital ("Bow River") announced today that its telecommunications services platform, NextEdge, has completed the acquisitions of Atlanta-based SBS Services Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries, a portfolio company of MSouth Equity Partners, ("Tachyon") and Las Vegas-based Spectrum Services, LLC ("Spectrum").

The transactions have created a premier turnkey wireless and wireline telecommunications service provider with a coast-to-coast presence that will continue to play an important role in the nation's 5G and internet fiber buildouts. These buildouts will be a key enabler of transformational changes across industries and radically improve how people and devices connect. The deployment of the next generation of wireless and wireline technologies has the potential to create upwards of one hundred thousand skilled jobs for Americans. Across the United States, NextEdge's combined offerings provide comprehensive telecommunications infrastructure services, which address everything from site acquisition, installation, modification, and maintenance of small cell and macro sites, as well as fiber construction. The collective enterprise is uniquely positioned to continue to serve the needs of its customers and communities as it supports the deployment of the next generation of network technologies.

"Today is an exciting and transformational day for our companies, one that values the historic success of our collective operations and brings with it tremendous opportunity for our future accomplishments. Our combined companies will continue a legacy of customer centric innovation and service through an expanded platform of solutions supported by our highly experienced and dedicated workforce," said Chris Maguire, CEO of NextEdge.

"The three businesses importantly share common founding principles, core values and cultures, providing a strong foundation for the combination," said Chris Wener, CEO of Spectrum. "The complimentary nature of these businesses creates a company with a coast-to-coast footprint, including market presence in the largest wireless markets in the U.S. It also boasts full turnkey end-to-end wireless telecom services, including small cell and macro capabilities as well as wireline construction. All of these services will be performed by a combined team of 500+ who are the absolute best this industry has to offer," added Chris Amato, CEO of Tachyon.

Bow River Capital seeks to invest in leading middle market companies that advance the country's infrastructure by improving built environments and our network infrastructure. "The unification of these three businesses will strengthen our value-based customer approach by addressing complex network deployment challenges while simplifying the process for new and existing customers", commented Greg Hiatrides, Managing Director at Bow River Capital. Robert Fortier, Vice President at Bow River Capital, commented, "the evolution of connectivity and communication all depend upon a densified next generation wireless network, and we are proud to partner with the companies that are helping make this a reality. On behalf of its customers and their communities, NextEdge solves the challenges of network deployment and densification. We look forward to continuing our journey with the NextEdge team."

Harris Williams served as financial advisor to Tachyon.

KeyBank Capital Markets served as lead left arranger and administrative agent and Citizens served as lead right arranger on the credit facility for the transactions.  

Greenberg Traurig served as legal counsel for Bow River.

About NextEdge: NextEdge is a leading 5G infrastructure services company that focuses on identifying, designing, engineering, constructing, installing, and maintaining 5G small cell networks. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Modus, the Company has deployed thousands of wireless telecommunications facilities in the most challenging municipalities in the Western United States and has emerged as an industry leader in designing, building, retrofitting, and modifying these networks not only to the satisfaction of its customers but also the communities in which it works.

About Tachyon: Tachyon is based in Roswell, Georgia and provides design, construction, optimization and maintenance services for owners and operators of fiber and wireless network infrastructure. The company's principal market includes the Southeastern United States, with targeted customer programs in surrounding regions. Tachyon serves as a prime contractor to several blue-chip customers and is well-positioned to address the increased need for communications infrastructure, driven by rapidly expanding wired and mobile broadband data consumption. The combination of both businesses creates a coast-to-coast turnkey telecommunications service provider of unique scale and capability.

About Spectrum: Spectrum is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and is a leading provider of wireless infrastructure services across the telecommunications field services industry. Spectrum primarily operates in the Southwestern U.S. The company was founded in Nevada in 1994 and has 5 regional offices with approximately 70+ employees.

About MSouth: MSouth is a private equity investment firm that provides equity capital and expertise to support management teams in acquisitions and recapitalizations of lower-middle market companies typically valued between $25 million and $200 million. Based in Atlanta, with an office in Nashville, Tennessee, MSouth invests primarily in the South with a consistent focus on management buyouts of business services, specialty distribution, niche manufacturing, healthcare services and telecommunications/media companies. With over $2.2 billion under management across four funds, MSouth is a successor to Cravey, Green & Wahlen, Inc., which was founded in 1984.

About Bow River Capital: Bow River Capital is a private alternative asset management company based in Denver, Colorado focused on investing in the lower middle market in three asset classes, including private equity, real estate and software growth equity. 

SOURCE Bow River Capital