Integra Telecom - History

History

The company was founded in 1996 through the acquisition of OGI Telecomm, a shared tenant provider formed in 1984 to provide voice and data services to the Oregon Graduate Institute (then based in unincorporated Washington County) and businesses in the AmberGlen Business Park, a nearby office park. By the year 2000 Integra had grown to annual revenues of $42 million, and grown to around $150 million in 2005. Integra Telecom doubled in size through the acquisition of Electric Lightwave (ELI) from Citizens Communications (later renamed Frontier Communications) in 2006, and in 2007 acquired Eschelon Telecom, which again doubled the size of the company. ELI was purchased for $243 million in cash as well as an assumption of $4 million in debt in a deal that closed on August 1, 2006. The Eschelon purchase was for $566 million in cash and $144 million in assumed debt.

As of 2007, Integra had 1,100 employees and annual revenues of $340 million before their purchase of Eschelon. That year they moved part of their operations into the 20-story Lloyd Center Tower in Portland's Lloyd District on the city's eastside. This is near their headquarters at the 1201 Lloyd Building. By 2009 the company had grown to annual revenues of more than $680 million and employed more than 550 people at their headquarters and 2,300 people across the company. In 2009, the company brought in new investors to reduce its debt load by approximately $600 million. Integra accumulated much of the debt due to its earlier acquisitions, and faced the possibility of bankruptcy due to breaching covenants in its loan agreements. In 2011, Kevin O'Hara became the third chief executive officer of the company that year when he was named to replace Tom Casey in December.