Block Communications Agrees to Acquire Line Systems

July 7, 2014 - PRLog -- Toledo, Ohio. – July 7, 2014 – Block Communications Inc. (“BCI”), a diversified media company and its subsidiary, Buckeye Telesystem (“Telesystem”), a leader of Voice, Data and Cloud services in the Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan area today jointly announced that they have reached a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Line Systems, Inc. (“LSI”), a full-service, integrated business communications provider in the Mid-Atlantic region, and certain of its affiliates.

The acquisition of LSI will continue to advance Telesystem’s mission to provide services that empower businesses. "This acquisition complements our overall offering and expands our reach into the Mid-Atlantic region.  We are very excited about the opportunity to have LSI become part of the Telesystem team." stated John E. Martin, President of Telesystem.   "Their philosophy, much like ours, is to build partnerships with the business community, while continually evolving services focused on the needs of our customers.”

"With the combination of Telesystem and LSI, we now have the ability to deliver innovative products and services in all areas that we operate," said Mike Miller, CEO of LSI.  "This acquisition is a win-win for both companies," he added.

Both companies offer a full complement of communication services.  From traditional phone service, data connectivity to Hosted VoIP, SIP trunks and Cloud services, the combination of the two companies will expand the reach of these offerings.  "For businesses, this acquisition adds to our capacity and geographic reach to provide high-availability and reliable communications to customers in our areas," Mr. Martin added.

LSI will maintain its headquarters in West Chester, PA.

Moorgate Partners served as exclusive financial advisor and Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP served as legal counsel to Block Communications.  The M&T Bank Investment Banking Group and W.G. Nielsen & Co. served as financial advisors and Kelley Drye & Warren LLP served as legal counsel to Line Systems.

About Block Communications

Block Communications is a privately held diversified media company with operations in cable television, commercial telecommunications, newspaper publishing and television broadcasting.  The company owns and operates Buckeye CableSystem, its cable system serving Toledo and Erie County, Ohio, and Buckeye Telesystem, its facilities-based commercial telecommunications business serving commercial customers primarily in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.  In addition, the Company publishes two daily metropolitan newspapers, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, each of which is the dominant newspaper publication in its market.  The Company also owns and operates television broadcast stations in Louisville, Kentucky; Decatur, Illinois; Lima, Ohio; and Boise, Idaho.

About Buckeye Telesystem

With a customer-centric mission, Telesystem is the dominant communications provider for commercial customers primarily in the Northwest/North Central, Ohio and Southeast, Michigan areas. Established in 1994, Telesystem maintains superior customer satisfaction by providing a wide array of integrated communication services and solutions delivered across their highly-advanced fiber SONET and carrier-grade Ethernet core network. Utilizing Session-Initiated Protocol (SIP), offerings such as Hosted Stations (Hosted IP-Centrex), SIP Trunks, high-definition voice and a growing suite of application solutions are available virtually anywhere in the world through the advancement of the Epiphany product portfolio. Telesystem’s managed service offering includes Virtual Servers, Cloud Storage, Cloud Exchange, and Colocation.  For more information, please visit www.Telesystem.us.

About Line Systems

Line Systems, Inc. (LSI) is a full-service, integrated communications provider. With a complete line of Voice, Data, and Cloud services, as well as national and international networking capabilities, LSI helps companies located in the Mid-Atlantic region expand their presence and leverage their communications technologies as a competitive advantage.