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Gateway Fiber and WANRack Unite to Connect More Communities in Strategic Merger

1. Gateway Fiber and WANRack are merging to enhance FTTP offerings. 2. The merger aims to improve scalability and expand services to SMBs. 3. CBRE Investment Management holds majority ownership, influencing strategic direction. 4. The new company will address fiber access gap for households and schools. 5. Transaction expected to close in 2025, pending regulatory approvals.

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FAQ

Why Bullish?

The merger enhances CBRE's portfolio in the growth-focused fiber market. Previous examples show that such strategic consolidations typically lead to increased valuations.

How important is it?

This merger substantially strengthens CBRE's position in a high-growth sector, indicating robust future prospects.

Why Long Term?

While immediate financial impact may be minimal, long-term growth is expected as the market for fiber broadband continues to expand.

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CBREGATEWAYFWANRACK
WRIGHT CITY, Mo. & OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--St. Louis-based Gateway Fiber and Kansas City-based WANRack are announcing a merger that combines the resources of both companies into a national FTTX platform serving residents, businesses, and schools across 25 US states. Gateway Fiber is an FTTP developer and operator started in 2019 that serves residential and commercial customers across Missouri, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Launched in 2013, WANRack is an integrated broadband provider that serves school districts and libraries through its E-Rate program and residential and commercial customers in eastern Kansas through its KWIKOM subsidiary. The merger of the two companies results in greater scale, improved operations, and growth opportunities for the new combined organization and its employees. Additionally, the combination of both organizations opens up new opportunities to further expand product offerings for small and medium businesses and fulfill more commercial and wholesale internet needs. “Today, more than half of US households don't have access to fiber internet, and many school districts lack sufficient bandwidth for their students,” said Chris Surdo, CEO of the new company. “As a unified organization, especially with WANRack’s E-Rate offering, we have an exciting opportunity to expand our mission of serving customers and communities across our footprint.” A fund owned by CBRE Investment Management is the majority owner of both Gateway Fiber and WANRack. “As two high-growth fiber companies in our portfolio, bringing WANRack and Gateway Fiber’s complementary capabilities together made strategic sense,” said Noi Spyratos, Managing Director, Private Infrastructure at CBRE IM. “This positions the combined company to benefit from the opportunity to scale, diversify offerings in new markets, and unlock growth. Our team fully supports Chris and the new team’s vision and leadership.” The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to required regulatory approvals. Throughout the merger process, customers will continue to experience the same excellent level of service they have come to expect from each company. The new executive team includes key members of both organizations. From Gateway Fiber: Chris Surdo, Chief Executive Officer Nathan McIntyre, Chief Information Officer John Meyer, Chief Customer Officer Jim Rosema, SVP, Customer Operations Jason Johns, SVP, Network Deployment From WANRack: Todd Barfield, Chief Legal Officer Maria Davis, Chief of Staff Blake Mayfield, VP, E-Rate Sales Shweta Bhatia, VP, Human Resources About Gateway Fiber Gateway Fiber is on a mission to positively impact communities through a better internet. As data requirements for residences and businesses continue to expand, Gateway is creating a leading, national fiber-to-the-home platform to serve this critical unmet need. Gateway provides faster, more reliable internet with a simple pricing model and industry-leading customer service. For more information, visit gatewayfiber.com. About WANRack WANRack, headquartered in the Kansas City metro area, is a privately-owned integrated fiber provider. Focused on providing internet connectivity to schools and libraries through the E-Rate program, WANRack operates under state Public Service Commissions and the FCC, adhering to reporting requirements and service standards as a certified E-Rate service provider. For more information, visit wanrack.com About KWIKOM Communications KWIKOM Communications, founded in 2010 in Iola, Kansas, provides phone and internet services to 75 counties across Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Florida. Acquired by WANRack in 2023, KWIKOM uses fiber optic and fixed wireless technology to deliver high-speed, low-latency connections. Since 2017, the company has expanded its fiber network to offer faster, more reliable connectivity, and recently added video services to provide a complete streaming and entertainment solution. For more information, visit kwikom.com/ About CBRE Investment Management CBRE Investment Management is a leading global real assets investment management firm with $148.3 billion in assets under management* as of September 30, 2024, operating in more than 30 offices and 20 countries around the world. Through its investor-operator culture, the firm seeks to deliver sustainable investment solutions across real assets categories, geographies, risk profiles and execution formats so that its clients, people and communities thrive. CBRE Investment Management is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2023 revenue). The company has more than 130,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE Investment Management harnesses CBRE’s data and market insights, investment sourcing and other resources for the benefit of its clients. For more information, please visit cbreim.com. *Assets under management (AUM) refers to the fair market value of real assets-related investments with respect to which CBRE Investment Management provides, on a global basis, oversight, investment management services and other advice and which generally consist of investments in real assets; equity in funds and joint ventures; securities portfolios; operating companies and real assets-related loans. This AUM is intended principally to reflect the extent of CBRE Investment Management’s presence in the global real assets market, and its calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers and from its calculation of regulatory assets under management for purposes of certain regulatory filings.

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