October 18, 2001 -- Conversent Communications has acquired the assets of USDataCenters, Inc., a Boston-area data center and web hosting company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
Conversent is a facilities-based provider of voice and data communications for business customers along the East Coast, and will fold USDataCenters' operations into its Northeast Data Vault subsidiary.
"This was an excellent opportunity for us to purchase superior assets at a great value," said Robert Shanahan, President and CEO of Conversent. "Our voice and data customers now have the added advantage of obtaining high-end web hosting and colocation services as well."
WebMergers.com reported that Conversent paid $400,000 for assets that included a 25,000 square foot data center, which it will use support a new disaster recovery service.
"Disaster recovery for data used to be a luxury for larger companies, "said Shanahan. "But as recent events have highlighted, every company that houses large amounts of mission-critical data needs this service, and now we are able to offer it to all of our customers."
The acquisition was through Conversent's newly formed affiliate, Northeast Data Vault, Inc. USDataCenters was in bankruptcy, so the price paid was only $400,000. USDataCenters operates facilities containing fully redundant networks, security features, redundant power, and high-bandwidth Internet connectivity. This allows its customers to keep critical information secure while ensuring maximum uptime for their web sites.
The company will use the acquisition to expand its hosting offerings and to support Conversent's planned Disaster Recovery Service, which will provide back-up data storage to customers.
Conversent was co-founded in 1998 by Shanahan and cable entrepreneur Robert Fanch, and provides its customers with a broad portfolio of services - Internet access, data and network applications, and voice solutions.