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Colt Technology Services

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Colt Technology Services Group Limited
IndustryTelecoms, Managed services
Founded1992 (London)
FounderJim Hynes
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Area served
Europe
United States
Asia
Key people
Michael Wilens (Chairman)
Keri Gilder (CEO) [1]
ParentFidelity Investments
ASN
Websitecolt.net

Colt Technology Services Group Limited (formerly COLT Telecom Group S.A.)[2] is a multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by Fidelity Investments in August 2015. "Colt" stood for City Of London Telecom.

History

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Colt was founded in 1992 by Jim Hynes with funds provided by Fidelity Investments as City Of London Telecommunications.[3] The company began to construct a telecoms network in London.[3] In 1993 it was awarded a licence to compete with British Telecom and Cable and Wireless in voice and data transmission.[3] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996.[3] The group later expanded into Europe, building networks in major European cities over the next 10 years.[3]

In 2001 Fidelity helped the Company to raise a further £400m to finance its future activities.[4] In 2005 the company reached its first year of positive cash flow, and in 2007 its first year of profit. In April 2009 Colt completed an Open Offer raising €199.1m (including a €9.7m foreign exchange gain) before expenses with the issue of 211.0 million shares.[5] In 2010 Colt rebranded from COLT Telecom to Colt Technology Services, deleting the acronym City of London Telecommunications to reflect its pan-European nature. In May 2011 Colt acquired a majority shareholding in MarketPrizm, a provider of low latency market data and trading infrastructure services.[6]

In August 2012 Colt acquired a majority shareholding in ThinkGrid, a cloud platform for delivery of hosted services[7]

On 12 November 2014, Colt acquired KVH, a Japanese Telecom service provider, helping Colt to expand its capability in the growing Asian market.[8]

In August 2015 the company was acquired by Fidelity Investments.[9]

On 2 November 2022, Colt entered into agreement to acquire Lumen Technologies' Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business for $1.8 billion.[10]

Operations

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The parent company's main centre of operations is based in the United Kingdom.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Mike Robuck (2020-05-28). "Q&A: Colt's new CEO is ready to blaze her own trail". Fierce Telecom. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  2. ^ Colt Technology Services. "Colt name change". www.colt.net. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  3. ^ a b c d e Colt Technology Services. "Colt History". www.colt.net. Archived from the original on 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  4. ^ Kapner, Suzanne (2001-10-04). "Fidelity Investments Agrees To Help Rescue Colt". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  5. ^ "Colt Telecom Group". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  6. ^ "Colt to buy MarketPrizm". www.finextra.com. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  7. ^ "Colt Buys ThinkGrid To Beef Up Its Small Enterprise Cloud Services Business". www.TechCrunch.com.
  8. ^ "Colt expands into Asia with KVH acquisition". www.telecomasia.net. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  9. ^ "Colt declares Fidelity takeover unconditional". www.channelnomics.eu. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Colt splashes $1.8bn on Lumen's EMEA networks". Telecom TV. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Colt to exit carrier voice market". www.totaltele.com. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
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