Less than three months since it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Yipes says it is ready to get back into the game.
The San Francisco-based firm Tuesday said its Yipes Enterprise Services, Inc. (formerly PHX Communications, Inc.), has acquired the network operations and other assets of Yipes Communications, Inc. via an asset sale approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco. Financial terms of the exchange were not disclosed.
The company said CEO Dan Muse will continue to lead the team, which includes co-founder and CTO Kamran Sistanizadeh, who is the original architect of Yipes’ network and holds 16 service-related patents.
Last year, the optical IP network provider joined the ranks of Excite@Home, NorthPoint Communications and Rhythms NetConnections, when it burned through a wad of cash and then failed to get more funding.
This time the revitalized company said its has raised a $40.8 million round of equity financing from a strong syndicate of investors, with a second round of $13.2 million expected to close later this year.
Under its revised business plan, Yipes said it will continue to serve customers and expand services in 10 markets including San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas, Houston and Washington D.C.
Customers in remaining markets will transition to E-xpedient Holdings, Inc., a national service provider. The company said Yipes’ assets, including its network, operational support systems, customer support, NOC and local sales and operations teams remain intact, and Yipes Ethernet services will continue to be offered by Yipes Enterprise Services.
“The acquisition of Yipes assets and the recent infusion of new funds is a testament to the company’s unique vision, highly affordable service offerings and ongoing customer traction,” said Dennis Muse, president and CEO, Yipes Enterprise Services. “We value the patience and loyalty of our customers, business partners and suppliers, and we are delighted to have a new business plan in place that will enable us to continue serving and nurturing these strategic relationships.”
Analysts weary of the Ethernet services market are closely watching the resurgence of the company, but the news was welcome by Yipes’ largest customers like Extreme Networks.
“Yipes has been a strategic business partner for Extreme since day one, and our ongoing relationship and commitment to advanced Ethernet and IP services is setting the standard for high-bandwidth and service-rich metro networks,” said Extreme Networks president and CEO Gordon Stitt. “We are pleased to see Yipes Enterprise Services poised to expand its network, and we will continue to work together to offer customers unprecedented levels of bandwidth and services for increased productivity.”
Yipe’s Ethernet services range from 1 Megabit per second to 1 Gigabit per second in 1 Mbps increments and are marketed as Yipes MAN (Metro Area Networking), Yipes NAN (National Area Networking) and Yipes NET (high-speed Internet access).
