Reichmann Family’s Stake in Everest Mounts

[Toronto, CANADA] There’s nothing like a cool CDN $50-million to soothe a CEO’s soul. But according to financial pundits, Everest Broadband Networks’ third round of financing is more than simply a healthy infusion of venture capital. It’s the anchor that will steady this high-speed Internet access provider when the much-anticipated wave of consolidations hits the broadband industry in the coming months.

Prophesizes telecommunications analyst Cannon Carr of CIBC World Markets: “We continue to expect increasing consolidation over the next six months in local broadband, including the building-centric carrier space. During this period we expect well-managed carriers to make opportunistic acquisitions as several of their peers face funding issues or weak execution … [Everest Broadband’s] private placement, in our view, highlights Everest’s focus on execution and capital efficiency while providing it with strong financial backing for expansion.”

Everest Broadband, which provides high-speed Internet access, long-distance telephone service, digital broadcast satellite TV and related broadband applications in multi-tenant commercial and residential buildings and hotels, completed its third round of financing with Exelon Capital Partners as the lead investor. Other major contributors are current Everest seed shareholders Pequot Capital Management and SOFTBANK Venture Capital. Paul Reichmann has also invested in this round of financing, in trust for the beneficiary of Mr. Reichmann’s family. Steven Reichmann, who heads up Everest Broadband Networks Canada, has increased his investment in this round.

In Canada, Everest Broadband has secured over 25M square feet of buildings under contract in major cities, including Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor and Calgary. In addition, the company is a broadband service provider to developers such as O&Y Properties across Canada, as well as Davpart and Groupe Rosdev in Montreal. And on August 14, 2000, Everest announced its acquisition of Metrocomm International Inc., a building telecommunications provider with a customer base throughout the New York region.