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Urja Lakhani - GTT - Equity Research

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1 Thesis & Recommendation Summary Key Investment Driver #2 Key Investment Driver #3 GTT is growing rapidly through strategic mergers and acquisitions which provides the company the ability to expand its operating leverage, extend its network reach, and broaden its customer base. GTT has strong organic growth along with inorganic growth. It is increasing its sales channel, improving client account management and pushing for government contracts. Low capital expenditure model allows GTT to have higher free cash flow than peers. EXCHG: GTT Sector: TMT Industry: Networking Services Analyst: Urja Lakhani GTT Communications, Inc. BU Finance & Investment Club GTT is a high growth company and is expected to continue this growth in the future with the market for its connectivity solutions growing rapidly. GTT will be able to capitalize on this opportunity due to it’s growing infrastructure and strong product portfolio. Key Statistics Market Cap $ 959.73M 52-Week Range $ 12.3 - 26.6 Enterprise Value $ 1.35B Revenue (LTM) $ 500.03M EBITDA $ 103.44M Beta (against RTY) 1.09 Margins & Ratios P/E (LTM) 29.12 D/E Ratio 3.48 ROE 32.87% EBITDA Margin 5.37% Profit Margin 6.74% Dividend Yield 0% Recommendation Current Trading Price: $ 25.50 ( As of 11/30/2016) Recommendation: BUY Target Price: $ 32.78 Upside/Downside (%) 29% Sources: Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance Key Investment Driver #1 Key Investment Driver #3 $4,716.30 $1,175.84 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 Return on $1000 invested GTT RUT NASDAQ Telecom DATE: 12/20/16
Transcript
Page 1: Urja Lakhani - GTT - Equity Research

 

1

Thesis & Recommendation Summary

Key Investment Driver #2

Key Investment Driver #3

GTT is growing rapidly through strategic mergers and

acquisitions which provides the company the ability to expand its operating leverage, extend its network reach, and broaden

its customer base.

GTT has strong organic growth along with inorganic growth. It is increasing its sales channel, improving client account

management and pushing for government contracts.

Low capital expenditure model allows GTT to have higher free cash flow than peers.

EXCHG: GTT

Sector: TMT Industry: Networking Services Analyst: Urja Lakhani

GTT Communications, Inc.

BU Finance & Investment Club

GTT is a high growth company and is expected to continue this growth in the future with the market for its connectivity solutions growing rapidly. GTT will be able to capitalize on this opportunity

due to it’s growing infrastructure and strong product portfolio.

Key Statistics Market Cap $ 959.73M 52-Week Range $ 12.3 - 26.6 Enterprise Value $ 1.35B Revenue (LTM) $ 500.03M EBITDA $ 103.44M

Beta (against RTY) 1.09

Margins & Ratios P/E (LTM) 29.12 D/E Ratio 3.48 ROE 32.87% EBITDA Margin 5.37% Profit Margin 6.74% Dividend Yield 0%

Recommendation Current Trading Price: $ 25.50 (As of 11/30/2016) Recommendation: BUY Target Price: $ 32.78 Upside/Downside (%) 29%

Sources: Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance

Key Investment Driver #1

Key Investment Driver #3

 $4,716.30    

 $1,175.84    

0  1000  2000  3000  4000  5000  6000  

Return  on  $1000  invested  

GTT  

RUT  

NASDAQ  Telecom  

DATE: 12/20/16

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2

INDUSTRY TRENDS & PRIMARY RESEARCH

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Diversified Communications Industry includes players that provide a diverse range of communication and networking services to consumers, businesses and governments.

Industry Definition

BU Finance & Investment Club

•  Global Communications spending is expected to rise 5.31% CAGR between 2015 and 2019

•  Internet service Industry is expected to grow at 4.2% CAGR from 2016 to 2021.

•  The managed services industry is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 14%.

Industry Summary

•  Sources: Gartner  -­‐  Gartner  Forecast  Analysis:  Unified  CommunicaEons,  Worldwide,  2012-­‐2019,  3Q15  Update  –  September  2015,  TechNavio  

Description: IP-based traffic is forecasted to grow rapidly. According to a CISCO report, global IP traffic will increase nearly threefold over the next 5 years, and will have increased nearly a hundredfold from 2005 to 2020. Overall, IP traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% from 2015 to 2020. IP traffic in America alone (GTT’s major market) will grow at CAGR of 19 %. Business IP traffic is expected to grow at 18% CAGR from ‘15-’20 Impact on Company: This increased traffic will create significant need for bandwidth and networking services that GTT provides.

Trend #1Growing IP based traffic

0  

5000  

10000  

15000  

20000  

25000  

30000  

35000  

2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020  

Business  IP  Traffic  

Business Internet traffic

Business managed IP traffic

Business mobile data traffic

18% CAGR 6% CAGR 47% CAGR

DATE: 12/20/16

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INDUSTRY TRENDS & PRIMARY RESEARCH

BU Finance & Investment Club

Description: The worldwide cloud computing market grew 28% to $110B in revenues in 2015. Over the five years to 2021, the Cloud computing industry is expected to experience strong growth attributed to non-industry companies’ continued outsourcing of information technology (IT) to third parties. Efforts to improve operational efficiencies, coupled with the rising costs of handing IT internally, will drive outsourcing by large companies. Moreover, the continued shift to online services will drive additional demand for industry services. Worldwide spending on cloud services expected to grow at a 19.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from nearly $70B in 2015 to more than $141B in 2019. Along with a growth in market for the cloud computing services, global cloud IP traffic is also expected to increase. According to a CISCO report, it will more than quadruple (4.1-fold) over the next 5 years. Overall, cloud IP traffic will grow at a CAGR of 33 percent from 2015 to 2020 due to the workload Shift from Traditional Data Centers to Cloud Data Centers. Traditional data centers traffic is decreasing at -1% 5 year CAGR and cloud data centers traffic is increasing at 27%5 year CAGR Impact on Company: GTT has built its network specifically for the cloud networking era. The company has created a robust internet backbone that has direct connections to thousands of cloud service providers. The company’s network points of presence (PoPs) are located in the leading data centers around the globe where the top cloud providers—such as IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure—host services. GTT can therefore provide businesses with fast and reliable direct connectivity to cloud services

Trend #2 Growth in Cloud market and traffic

Sources: Synergy Research Group, Forbes, Cybernetic, Gartner

0  5  

10  15  20  25  30  35  40  45  50  

2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020  

Cloud  CompuCng  Revenue  ($B)  

PaaS   SaaS   IaaS  

0  

50  

100  

150  

200  

250  

300  

350  

2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019  

Workload  DistribuCon  

Cloud  Data  Center  workloads  

TradiEonal  Data  Center  workloads  

DATE: 12/20/16

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4

INDUSTRY TRENDS & PRIMARY RESEARCH

BU Finance & Investment Club

Sources: Synergy Research Group, Forbes, Cybernetic, Gartner

0  10  20  30  40  50  60  70  

Security  Threat  Defences  used  by  organizaCons  (%)  

Description: Increasing concerns about cyber security are driving the security services industry. Juniper Research recently predicted that the rapid digitization of enterprise records will increase the cost of data breaches to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, increasing to almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015. Therefore, Spending on IT security, which was was 75.4B in 2015, is expected to reach $101B by 2018 and hit $170B by 2020 . Impact on Company GTT’s cloud-based and premises-based managed security services provides a comprehensive, multi-layered approach to security. GTT’s UTM (Unified Threat Management) services include Advanced Firewall, Intrusion Prevention, Anti-Virus, Web Filtering, Content Filtering and Anti-Spam – segments where there is still potential for growth.

Trend #3 Increasing security requirements

Industry Recommendation

Industry Rating: Overweight Due to the positive industry trends, there is significant market opportunity for GTT. The advent of cloud computing and rapidly increasing Cloud and IP traffic are tailwinds for the company creating significant need for bandwidth and networking services. Increasing complexity of IT and security requirements driving demand for managed services, GTT’s largest service segment.

 

DATE: 12/20/16

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COMPANY OVERVIEW

BU Finance & Investment Club

GTT is a network service operator, providing connectivity to large multinational enterprises, other carriers, and governments on a global basis. The company operates the fifth largest global Tier 1 Internet backbone with over 250 PoPs in 55 major markets.

Business Overview

•  EtherCloud wide area network services The Company provides Layer 2 (Ethernet) and Layer 3 (multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)) solutions. It designs and implements custom private, public and hybrid cloud network solutions. Customers can directly connect locations anywhere in the world with a single Ethernet port at each location, sharing information between locations as easily as over a local network. The Company's Ethercloud service is available in point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-multipoint, and MPLS IP VPN configurations. •  Internet services The Company offers customers high-bandwidth global Internet connectivity and IP transit with availability and packet delivery. •  Managed network and security services The Company offers managed network services, including managed equipment, managed security services and managed secure access. •  Voice and unified communication services. The Company's voice and unified communication services include session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking, and enterprise private branch exchange (PBX). The SIP trunking service is an enterprise-built unified communications offering that integrates voice, video and chat onto a single IP connection. Enterprise PBX service allows clients to eliminate traditional voice infrastructure with communication services delivered through the cloud.  

Core Products & Services

Sources: Investor Presentation, Company Website, Thomson Reuters, One Source

33%  

28%  

27%  

4%  5%  

3%  

Service  Offering    

Managed  Services  

Internet  Services  

Ethercloud  Services  

Private  Line  

Voice  and  UC  

Other  

Customers

GTT provides services to multinational enterprises, carriers and government customers in over 100 countries. The Company's global network assets are deployed in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Most of it’s revenue comes from US based customers (86%).

Customer  Type  

Enterprises  

Carrier  

Government  

DATE: 12/20/16

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6

COMPANY OVERVIEW

BU Finance & Investment Club

Business Model

Sources: Investor Presentation, Company Website, Thomson Reuters, One Source

Ratios Company Industry Sector P/E Ratio 29.64 18.73 20.88 Current Ratio 0.93 0.85 0.84 Net Profit Margin 7.46% 7.27% 7.15% ROA 4.46% 3.48% 3.35%

ROE 20.53% 11.91%

11.9%

Top Global Internet Providers

Level 3

NTT

Telia Sonera

GTT

Cogent

The company employs a "capex light" model, which leverages the sophisticated routing and switching infrastructure in its core global network, then integrates network access leased from last mile telecommunications carriers to reach client locations. This business model allows the company to quickly add capacity as needed, avoid significant infrastructure deployment, maintenance and replacement costs, and focus solely on designing the best network solutions for our clients' specific needs.

Competitors & Competitive Positioning

Differentiators -  ‘Capex Light’ model allows for global reach and rapid deployment of

bandwidth to meet client needs. -  Internally developed software platform (CMD) to handle all aspects

of customer lifecycle and profitability -  Global scale and Top-5 IP backbone enable superior services and

value

GTT is a leading company in the telecommunications sector: It was recently named the winner of a Gold Stevie Award in the Company of the Year – Telecommunications category in the 14th Annual American Business Awards. GTT was also named growth Company of the Year at 2016 ACG Corporate Growth Award. It also recently won the Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Mid-Atlantic region in the technology services category.

DATE: 12/20/16

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COMPANY OVERVIEW

BU Finance & Investment Club

GTT’s revenue is recognized directly through customers. GTT’s total revenue is comprised of three primary categories that include monthly recurring revenue (or "MRR"), non-recurring revenue, and burst revenue. MRR relates to contracted ongoing service that is generally fixed in price and paid by the customer on a monthly basis for the contracted term; this forms over 90% of total revenue. Non-recurring revenue consists of charges for installation in connection with the delivery of recurring communications services, late payments, cancellation, early termination, and equipment sales. Burst revenue represents variable charges for certain services, based on specific usage of those services, or usage above a fixed threshold, billed monthly in arrears.

Revenue Generation

Source: Company Website

Sources: Company Website, Company 10k, Investor Presentation

91.2   107.9  

157.4  

207.3  

369.3  

0  

50  

100  

150  

200  

250  

300  

350  

400  

2011   2012   2013   2014   2015  

Revenue  Growth  

Remote  Users  

Branch  Offices  

Data  Center  

Headquarters  

Branch  Offices  

Public  Internet  

Cloud  Service  Providers  

Cloud  Delivery  Network  

Internet  Services  

EtherCloud®    

Wide  Area  Networking  Services  

Public  Internet  Private  Wide  Area  Networks  Client  LocaEons  with  Managed  Services  

Firewall  

DATE: 12/20/16

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8

MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

BU Finance & Investment Club

Management Profiles

Richard D. Calder, Jr., President and CEO •  Over two decades of experience in the telecommunications arena. •  Received the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 Mid-Atlantic award. •  Promoted to CEO in May 2007. •  Previously worked InPhonic, Inc where he was president and COO. •  Studied Engineering at Yale and got his MBA from Harvard.

Michael Sicoli, CFO •  Promoted to CFO in April 2015. •  Previously served as principal of MTS Advisors, LLC, a consulting and

advisory services firm he founded in 2013. •  From 2010 to 2013, Mr. Sicoli served as Chief Executive Officer of Sidera

Networks, a fiber optic service provider.

H. Brian Thompson, Founder & Executive Chairman •  Serves as a member of the Board of Directors of GTT, Axcelis Technologies,

Inc., ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited, and Sonus Networks, Inc.

•  He also heads his own private equity investment and advisory firm, Universal Telecommunications, Inc

•  From December 2002 to June 2007, he was Chairman of Comsat International

Holding  Summary  

InsEtuEonal  Holdings   59.98%  

Total  number  of  holders   118  

Total  shares  held   22,287,085    

Total  value  of  holdings    $400,498,917    

Sources: NASDAQ, Mergent Online, Company Website

10%  

7%  

7%  

6%  

6%  64%  

InsCtuConal  Holdings   GILDER  GAGNON  HOWE  &  CO  LLC  

COLUMBIA  WANGER  ASSET  MANAGEMENT  LLC  

PEMBROKE  MANAGEMENT,  LTD  

CANNELL  CAPITAL  LLC  

LYON  STREET  CAPITAL,  LLC  

Others  

DATE: 12/20/16

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9

MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

BU Finance & Investment Club

COMPANY TRENDS: INVESTMENT THESES

GTT’s growth strategy is making transformations through mergers and acquisitions. Acquisitions have the ability to increase the scale of GTT’s operations, which in turn affords them the ability to expand their operating leverage, extend their network reach, and broaden their customer base. The company recently acquired Hibernia networks. Hibernia helps GTT expand its product portfolio optical and low latency transport, video and CDN services.  It also helps GTT increase its customer base The company expects to complete integration and realize synergies in 2-3 quarters and achieve a post synergy EBITDA multiple of 7times. Networking synergies are expected to come from the migration of GTT lease bandwidth to Hibernia's fiber network, the migration of Hibernia's IP traffic and lease bandwidth to GTT's Tier 1 backbone, combined purchasing power, and consolidation of overlapping points of presence.  This deal also helps GTT tap into the Atlantic market which is growing at 40%. The companies continue to look for such opportunities as mentioned in the earnings call, “our funnel of opportunities matching these criteria is active and robust.”

Investment Thesis #1 Transformation through strategic M&A

Sources: Investor relations, Company Annual Report

0  100,000  200,000  300,000  400,000  500,000  600,000  700,000  

3  Months   6  Months   12  Months  

24  Months  

Insider  Trades  Summary  

Total  Shares  Bought   Total  Shares  Sold  

Management Ownership & Insider Trading

Insiders own 32.8% of the company’s shares and institutions hold 59.98% of shares. Universal Telecommunications holds 18.2% shares. Richard Calder (CEO) holds 4.92% High insider holding is a positive signal indicating management's optimism and faith in the business. Over the past 12 months, shares bought by investors had exceeded the shares sold by investors which indicates an uptrend.

$0  

$20  

$40  

$60  

$80  

$100  

$120  

$140  

Adjusted  EBITDA  Growth  

DATE: 12/20/16

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10

§  Expanded service portfolio with broadband capability

§  Added enhanced managed services capabilities

October 2014

§  Added Top 5 global Tier 1 IP network

§  Extended network reach with over 120 PoPs in 24 countries

June 2011

§  Portfolio of IP and Ethernet services

§  Added 60 PoPs across North America, Asia and Europe

December 2009

§  Added over 500 multinational clients

§  Added significant managed service portfolio with deep security services

April 2015

§  Broadened global customer base to over 1,200 clients

§  Expanded portfolio of global Ethernet and cloud networking service

April 2013

§  Accelerated growth

in channel sales §  Broadened GTT’s

client base across diverse vertical markets

February 2016

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

§  Expanded IP and Ethernet services portfolio

§  Extended global network coverage and scale

April 2012

Selected Acquisition History Approach

§  Strong strategic fit

§  Successful integration of organization, systems and networks within two quarters

§  Highly accretive based on multiple of post-synergy EBITDA (after two quarters)

§  Added global SIP-based voice, blue chip multinational customer base

§  Added new global PoP locations

October 2015

M&A Growth Strategy

§  Expand cloud networking service platform

§  Extend network connectivity worldwide

§  Grow multinational client base and sales and support teams

Investment Thesis #1 Transformation through strategic M&A

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11

BU Finance & Investment Club

Investment Thesis #2 Strong Organic Growth

Investment Thesis #3 Low Capex increasing FCF

GTT’s organic growth in the most recent quarter has been 8%. The company targets to continue to grow organically in the range of 8-10%. In a recent conference, Mr. Cadler, CEO, remarked that he expects to ramp up the sales force from 95 in the end of the first quarter to 120 quote bearing sales people by the end of this year. The company has also recently been chosen as one of the 8 telecom providers for $4.3B worth of U.S. Govt. telecom contracts which will boost revenue growth. GTT’s key Organic Growth Initiatives are: •  Grow direct sales team •  Increase indirect channel presence •  Expand Client Account Management (CAM) program •  Win share of Global Network Services contract (US Govt)

GTT has a capex light model and this model allows it to generate higher unlevered FCF. Comparable Unlevered Free Cash Flow yield with dramatically lower upfront expenditure results in a compelling risk- adjusted model. Capex-light model allows GTT to offer clients industry-leading cloud networking services without owning fiber or data centers Utilization of leased network allows for ubiquitous reach and rapid deployment of new capacity to meet any customer need. Unencumbered by physical asset maintenance and operating costs are also relatively low. GTT’s target capex is 4-5% of revenue and majority of capex is success-based, related to network enhancements and customer orders.

COMPANY TRENDS: INVESTMENT THESES

Sources: Investor Presentation, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Thomson One

104  106  108  110  112  114  116  118  120  122  124  126  

Q1-­‐  15  Q2-­‐  15  Q3-­‐  15  Q4-­‐  15  Q1-­‐  16  

Organic  Revenue  Growth  ($M)  

2%  3%  

5%  

3%  4%  

0%  

2%  

4%  

6%  

2011   2012   2013   2014   2015  

Capital  Expenditure  (as  %  of  sales)  

17.80%  22.70%  

17.50%  14.10%  

0.00%  5.00%  10.00%  15.00%  20.00%  25.00%  

GTT   Cogent   Level  3     Zayo  Group  

Unlevered  FCF    (as  %  of  sales)  

DATE: 12/20/16

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12

VALUATION: DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW ANALYSIS

BU Finance & Investment Club

Revenue forecasts for the next year is based on recent quarterly performance. After that revenue is assumed to increase at 9%-10% (in line with organic growth estimates). The company expects

revenue to reach $1B and EBITDA to reach $250M in the next 5 years but these numbers have not been used as they seem to be based on acquisition assumptions. Conservative estimates used instead.

Assumptions

WACC  CalculaEon  Risk-­‐Free  Rate   1.72%  Equity  Risk  Premium   6.70%  Size  Premium   1.77%  Beta   1.09  Cost  of  Equity   10.79%  Cost  of  Debt   3.90%  WACC   8.38%  

FCFF Calculation

Sources: Bloomberg

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Revenue 91.2 107.9 157.4 207.3 369.3 522.0 573.0 628.0 684.5 746.1 Growth 18.3% 45.9% 31.7% 78.1% 41.3% 9.8% 9.6% 9.0% 9.0% Gross Profit 27.0 31.9 54.6 79.2 164.8 245.3 275.0 307.7 342.3 373.1 Growth 18% 71% 45% 108% 49% 12% 12% 11% 9% Gross Profit Margin 29.6% 29.6% 34.7% 38.2% 44.6% 47.0% 48.0% 49.0% 50.0% 50.0% EBITDA 8.4 12.9 22.9 33.6 63.1 120.1 143.3 169.6 191.7 208.9 Growth 54% 78% 47% 88% 90% 19% 18% 13% 9% EBITDA Margin 9% 12% 15% 16% 17% 20% 23% 27% 28% 28% Capex (as % of sales) 2% 3% 5% 3% 4% 4% 3% 4% 4% 4%

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

EBIT $86.62 $114.03 $138.14 $157.98 $172.77 - Taxes $30.32 $39.91 $48.35 $55.29 $60.47

$56.30 $74.12 $89.79 $102.69 $112.30 + D&A $27.14 $22.92 $25.12 $27.38 $29.85 - CAPEX $22.17 $17.64 $27.87 $30.21 $32.93 - Δ in NWC $11.72 $0.23 $0.64 $1.50 $3.02 Unlevered FCF $72.99 $79.17 $86.40 $101.37 $112.24 Net Present Value $351.12

DATE: 12/20/16

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VALUATION: DISCOUNTED CASH FLOW ANALYSIS

BU Finance & Investment Club

Terminal Value Calculation

WACC/Growth Rate Price Sensitivity

WACC/Exit Multiple Price Sensitivity

DCF  -­‐  Perpetuity  Growth  SensiCvity                               WACC – 7% 7% 8% 8% 9% 9% 10% 10%

Term

inal

Gro

wth

R

ate

3.2% $61.18 $52.16 $45.11 $39.44 $34.80 $30.93 $27.65 $24.86 2.7% $53.20 $46.00 $40.23 $35.49 $31.55 $28.21 $25.36 $22.90 2.2% $46.92 $41.03 $36.21 $32.19 $28.79 $25.88 $23.37 $21.18 1.7% $41.86 $36.94 $32.84 $29.37 $26.41 $23.85 $21.62 $19.66 1.2% $37.68 $33.50 $29.97 $26.95 $24.34 $22.07 $20.07 $18.30 0.7% $34.19 $30.58 $27.50 $24.84 $22.53 $20.49 $18.69 $17.09

DCF  -­‐  EV/EBITDA  Exit  MulCple  SensiCvity                              

WACC – 7% 7% 8% 8% 9% 9% 10% 10%

Term

inal

EB

ITD

A M

ultip

le

12.0 x $48.09 $46.90 $45.75 $44.63 $43.54 $42.48 $41.45 $40.45

11.0 x $43.81 $42.72 $41.67 $40.64 $39.64 $38.67 $37.72 $36.80

10.0 x $39.53 $38.54 $37.58 $36.65 $35.74 $34.86 $34.00 $33.16 9.0 x $35.25 $34.36 $33.50 $32.66 $31.84 $31.04 $30.27 $29.52

8.0 x $30.97 $30.18 $29.41 $28.67 $27.94 $27.23 $26.54 $25.88

7.0 x $26.69 $26.00 $25.33 $24.67 $24.04 $23.42 $22.82 $22.23

AssumpCons    Terminal  Growth  Rate  =  2.2%  Since  it  is  the  growth  rate  of  US  GDP.  Assumed  lower  than  industry  growth  rate  to  be  conservaEve.  EBITDA  MulEple  =  Median  of  implied  exit  mulEple  and  comp  co  mulEples  

Perpetuity Growth Method Exit Multiple Method Growth Rate 2.20% EBITDA Multiple 10.00x Undiscounted TEV $1,855.57 Undiscounted TEV $2,089.16 Discounted TEV $1,240.78 Discounted TEV $1,396.97 DCF Value $1,591.89 DCF Value $1,748.09 Equity Value $1,126.49 Equity Value $1,282.69

DATE: 12/20/16

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14

VALUATION: COMPARABLE COMPANIES ANALYSIS

BU Finance & Investment Club

Weighted mean has been used to derive these valuations. Weights are based on similarity of product mix, size of the

business and target customers. Outliers have not been weighted in P/E calculation. Weights have not been used for wide CompCo and median has been

used as the valuation metric there.

Assumptions

GTT is trading at a significantly higher P/E ratio compared to it’s peers. However, it should be noted that this could also be

because the company is a high growth stock and competitors are much larger companies.

The company’s EBITDA ratio should go down in the future and come at par with competitors as it continues to expand scale and

realize synergies from acquisitions.

Key Takeaways

Name   TKR    GTT  CommunicaEons   GTT    Cogent  CommunicaEon    COOI    Level  3  CommunicaEon  LVLT    Century  Link    CTL  United  Online   UNTD  Zayo  Group   ZAYO  FronEer  Comm   FTR  Earthlink   ELNK  

Wide Comparable Companies

Wide CompCo Results EV/Sales EV/EBITDA GTT 2.5x 12.2x Max 6.8x 17.9x Mean 3.2x 10x Median 3.0x 10.2x Min 0.5x 4.4x

Core CompCo Results

Sources: Company Annual Report, Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, Factset

Company   Ticker   EV  Market  Cap   Rev   EBITDA    

Net  Income   P/E   Weight  

EV/EBITDA  Weight  

EV/Revenue   Weight  

 GTT  CommunicaCons      GTT      1,290      898      431      87      19     30.9x   35%   14.9x   25%   3.0x   25%  

 Cogent  CommunicaEons  

Holdings      CCOI      2,180      1,750      412      122      10     177.8x   0%   17.9x   25%   5.3x   25%  

 Level  3  CommunicaEons      LVLT      28,750      18,100      8,230      2,620      3,440     5.3x   30%   11.0x   10%   3.5x   10%  

 Century  Link      CTL      35,620      15,800      17,850      6,800      922     17.1x   30%   5.2x   10%   2.0x   10%  

 Earthlink      ELNK      1,120      715      1,070      228      (25)   N/A   0%   4.9x   10%   1.0x   10%  

 Zayo  Group      ZAYO      10,790      6,900      1,580      722      (40)   N/A   0%   15.0x   20%   6.83x   20%  

                                                   High        35,620      18,100      17,850      6,800      3,440     177.8x       17.9x       6.8x      Mean      13,292      7,360      4,929      1,763      721     57.8x   11.5x   3.6x      Median        6,485      4,325      1,325      475      14     24.0x       12.9x       3.2x      

Weighted  Mean                            19.1x   13.3x       4.1x  Low        1,120      715      412      87      (40)   5.3x       4.9x       1.0x      

DATE: 12/20/16

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BU Finance & Investment Club

VALUATION: PRECEDENT TRANSACTIONS ANALYSIS

Most comparable transactions are public companies acquiring private companies. Information has been found from

newspaper articles, company website and company annual reports. Since most targets are private, premium has not

been deducted from EV. Precedent transaction has not been used in valuation.

Assumptions

One transaction where the target was a public company is Level 3 communication’s acquisition of TW Telecom. 12% premium has been deducted when calculating EV for the

multiple. Though not used in valuation, the multiple serves as a sanity check for comparable companies valuation multiples.

Key Takeaways

Precedent Transaction Results

Date Buyer Target Type EV LTM Sales EV/Revenue 11/7/16 Windstream Inc Earthlink Public/Public $1,100,000,000 $1,070,000,000 1.03

10/31/16 Century Link Level 3 Communications Public/Public

$34,000,000,000 $8,230,000,000 4.13

6/20/16 Communications Sales & Leasing, Inc Tower Cloud Inc. Public/Private $230,000,000 $175,000,000 1.31

4/18/16 Consolidated Communications Holdings Champaign Telephone (CTC) Public/Private $13,000,000 $10,000,000 1.3

10/1/15 GTT ONS Public/Private $175,000,000 $74,600,000 2.35 2/8/15 GTT Telnes Public/Private $18,000,000 $17,000,000 1.06 10/31/14 Level 3 communications TW Telecom Public/Public $5,300,000,000 $1,560,000,000 2.99 11/16/13 Vonage Holdings Corp. Vocalocity Public/Private $129,000,000 $44,500,000 2.90 9/27/13 Wide Open West Solutions Bluemile Private/Private $20,000,000 $8,900,000 2.25 8/30/13 Intermedia.net Telanetix Private/Private $49,700,000 $33,900,000 1.47 7/2/13 Earthlink Center beam Public/Private $22,000,000 $4,400,000 5.00

7/2/12 Consolidated Communications Holdings Sure west communications Public/ Private $564,000,000 $248,000,000 2.3

3/23/12 Shoretel M5 Networks Public/ Private $183,900,000 $48,200,000 3.82

Core TTM Revenue $431.00

Implied Price Target $30.49

Upside (Downside) % 19.6%

Wide (13) Revenue $431.00

Implied Price Target $18.31

Upside (Downside) % -28.2%

DATE: 12/20/16

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BU Finance & Investment Club

VALUATION SUMMARY & RANGE ANALYSIS

Valuation Summary

>>Income Approach (80%) >>Market Approach (20%) •  Emphasis on DCF to factor in future growth prospects. •  GTT’s closest competitors are private companies •  High Growth Stock Compared to peers •  EV/Sales allows comparison to peers without positive earnings or cash flow. •  P/E not considered because most companies are loss making, or outliers •  Comps produces skewed result due to market inefficiencies, especially within tech

Assumptions

Method Price Weight Discounted Cash Flow Perpetuity Growth Method $32.19 50% Exit Multiple Method $36.65 30%

Comparable Company Analysis P/E $14.68 0% EV/EBITDA $20.23 10% EV/Revenue $36.68 10%

Precedent Trsnsaction Analysis $23.87 0%

Target Price $32.78

DATE: 12/20/16

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BU Finance & Investment Club

VALUATION SUMMARY & RANGE ANALYSIS

Valuation Summary

52-week range

Perpetuity Growth

Exit Multiple

Price/Earnings

EV/EBITDA

EV/Revenue

Low 12.31 17.09 22.23 4.05 0.66 1.34 Range 13.19 15.10 14.42 14.43 18.69 25.48 Base 25.50 32.19 36.65 18.48 19.35 26.82 Range 1.14 28.99 11.44 19.29 11.66 41.64 High 26.64 61.18 48.09 37.77 31.00 68.46

$- $10.00 $20.00 $30.00 $40.00 $50.00 $60.00 $70.00 $80.00

52-week range

Perpetuity Growth

Exit Multiple

Price/Earnings

EV/EBITDA

EV/Revenue

DATE: 12/20/16

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BU Finance & Investment Club

RISK ANALYSIS

Interest Rate Risk

Exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates is primarily related to the company’s outstanding term loans and revolving line of credit facility. The company has term loan of $400.0 million. The interest expense associated with the loan and any form of revolving credit will vary with market rates, specifically LIBOR. Based on current rates, a hypothetical 100 basis point increase in LIBOR would increase annual interest expense by approximately $3.6 million, which would decrease income and cash flows by the same amount.

Decline in IP Transit Prices

Approximately 20.5% of GTT’s revenues for the are billed by non-US entities that must record the revenue in the local functional currency (either British Pounds Sterling or Euros) and then translate the balances to the reporting currency, or USD. This foreign currency translation impact is partially offset by the fact that approximately 14.0% and 13.0% of our cost of telecommunication services provided and selling, general and administrative expenses are also billed to non-US legal entities that must record these items in local currency (in British Pounds Sterling or Euros) as well.

Pricing of the company's service continue to decline at rapid rates - The IP transit market continues to see rapid pricing declines, given historic overcapacity of fiber (which is leased by GTT). Fortunately, the model for GTT is one that re-prices transit from partners more rapidly than its contracts with enterprises. Thus, the primary risk from pricing is relative to revenues, with a much lessened risk on EBITDA.

Exchange Rate Sensitivity

Representative from Investor Relations indicated that the company would consider raising equity to fund an acquisition if further debt cannot be raised. This would lead to stock dilution.

Financing of acquisitions : Equity Raise

DATE: 12/20/16

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RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY

BU Finance & Investment Club

Recommendation

Current Trading Price: $ 25.50 (As of 11/30/16)

Recommendation: BUY

Target Price: $ 32.78

Upside/Downside (%) 29%

DATE: 12/20/16

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Appendix 1: Income Statement (Historical) 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Revenue 91.2 107.9 157.4 207.3 369.3 % growth 18.3% 45.9% 31.7% 78.1%

COGS (excl. D&A) -­‐64.2   -­‐76   -­‐102.8   -­‐128.1   -­‐204.5  

% of Revenue 70.39% 70.44% 65.31% 61.79% 55.38% Gross Profit 27.0 31.9 54.6 79.2 164.8

% Margin 29.6% 29.6% 34.7% 38.2% 44.6%

SG&A -18.6 -19 -31.7 -45.6 -101.7 % of Revenue 20.39% 17.61% 20.14% 22.00% 27.54%

EBITDA 8.4 12.9 22.9 33.6 63.1 % Margin 9.2% 12.0% 14.5% 16.2% 17.1%

Depreciation -­‐3.9   -­‐7.3   -­‐17.2   -­‐24.9   -­‐46.7  Amort. of Intangibles - - - - -

Total D&A (3.9) (7.3) (17.2) (24.9) (46.7) Other Operating Expenses (1.0) (0.7) (7.7) (9.4) (12.7)

Total Operating Expenses (23.5) (27.0) (56.6) (79.9) (161.1) Operating Income (EBIT) 3.5 4.9 (2.0) (0.7) 3.7

% Margin 3.8% 4.5% -1.3% -0.3% 1.0%

Interest Expense -2.5 -4.7 -8.4 -8.5 -13.9 Interest Income

Net Interest Inc. (Exp) (2.5) (4.7) (8.4) (8.5) (13.9)

Other Non-Operating Income - - - - - EBT Excl. Unusual Items 1.0 0.2 (10.4) (9.2) (10.2)

% Margin 1.1% 0.2% -6.6% -4.4% -2.8%

Unusual Items -0.2 -1.1 -12.4 -11.7 -4.6 EBT Incl. Unusual Items 0.8 (0.9) (22.8) (20.9) (14.8)

Income Tax Expense -­‐0.6   -­‐0.7   2 -­‐2.1   34.1

Earnings from Cont. Ops 0.2 (1.6) (20.8) (23.0) 19.3

Earnings from Discounted Ops. - - - - - Extraord Item & Acct. Change - - - - -

Net Income to Company 0.2 (1.6) (20.8) (23.0) 19.3

Minority Int. in Earnings - - - - - Net Income 0.2 (1.6) (20.8) (23.0) 19.3

% Margin 0.2% -1.5% -13.2% -11.1% 5.2%

EPS 0.01 $(0.08) $(0.95) $(0.85) $0.55

Supplemental Data

Tax Rate 60.00% 350.00% 19.23% (22.83%) 334.31% Shares Outstanding 18.6   19   22   27   35  Depreciation as % of Net PP&E 121.9% 132.7% 84.3% 98.8% 120.1%

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Appendix 2: Income Statement (Projected)

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Revenue 522.0 573.0 628.0 684.5 746.1 % growth 41.3% 9.8% 9.6% 9.0% 9.0%

COGS (excl. D&A) (276.7) (298.0) (320.3) (342.3) (373.1) % of Revenue 53.00% 52.00% 51.00% 50.00% 50.00%

Gross Profit 245.3 275.0 307.7 342.3 373.1 % Margin 47.0% 48.0% 49.0% 50.0% 50.0%

SG&A -125.28 (131.8) (138.2) (150.6) (164.1) % of Revenue 24.00% 23.00% 22.00% 22.00% 22.00%

EBITDA 120.1 143.3 169.6 191.7 208.9 % Margin 20% 23% 27% 28% 28%

Depreciation (27.1) (22.9) (25.1) (27.4) (29.8) Amort. of Intangibles - - - - -

Total D&A (27.1) (22.9) (25.1) (27.4) (29.8) Other Operating Expenses (6.3) (6.3) (6.3) (6.3) (6.3)

Total Operating Expenses (158.7) (161.0) (169.6) (184.3) (200.3) Operating Income (EBIT) 86.6 114.0 138.1 158.0 172.8

% Margin 16.6% 19.9% 22.0% 23.1% 23.2%

Interest Expense (28.8) (28.8) (28.8) (28.8) (28.8) Interest Income - - - -

Net Interest Inc. (Exp) (28.8) (28.8) (28.8) (28.8) (28.8)

Other Non-Operating Income - - - - - EBT Excl. Unusual Items 57.8 85.2 109.4 129.2 144.0

% Margin 11.1% 14.9% 17.4% 18.9% 19.3%

Unusual Items - - - - - EBT Incl. Unusual Items 57.8 85.2 109.4 129.2 144.0

Income Tax Expense -20.24 (29.8) (38.3) (45.2) (50.4) Earnings from Cont. Ops 37.6 55.4 71.1 84.0 93.6

Earnings from Discounted Ops. - - - - - Extraord Item & Acct. Change - - - - -

Net Income to Company 37.6 55.4 71.1 84.0 93.6

Minority Int. in Earnings 0 0 0 0 0 Net Income 37.6 55.4 71.1 84.0 93.6

% Margin 7.2% 9.7% 11.3% 12.3% 12.5%

EPS 1.07 $1.58 $2.03 $2.40 $2.67

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Appendix 3: Balance Sheet (Historical) Historical

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Cash And Equivalents 3.2 4.7 5.8 49.3 14.6 Accounts Receivable 10.9   11   22.3   29.3   60.4  Other Recievables - - - - -

Total Receivables 10.9 11.0 22.3 29.3 60.4 Inventory - - - - - Prepaid Exp. 2.2   1.9   2.9   3.9   13.7  Other Current Assets 1.8   1.3   2   2.4   4.2  

Total Current Assets 18.1 18.9 33.0 84.9 92.9

Gross Property, Plant & Equipment 8.2   13.1   34.9   50   84.4  Accumulated Depreciation -5 -7.6 -14.5 -24.8 -45.5

Net Property, Plant & Equipment 3.2 5.5 20.4 25.2 38.9

Long-term Investments - - - - - Goodwill 41   49.8   67   92.7   271  Other Intangibles 11.8   20.9   43.6   58.6   182.2  Deferred Tax Assets, Current & LT - - - - - Deferred Charges, LT - - - - - Other Long-Term Assets 4.2   2.6   7.7   5.1   11.6  

Total Assets 78.3 97.7 171.7 266.5 596.6

Accounts Payable 16.5   12.9   21   20.3   22.7  Accrued Expenses 7.3   12.5   23.6   29.5   43.1  Curr. Income Taxes Payable 0.9   0.8   3.4  -­‐   -­‐  ST Debt and lease obligations 6.7   7.8   6.5   6.2   5.4  Other Current Liabilities 6.2   6.6   6.8   14.2   28.3  

Total Current Liabilities 37.6 40.6 61.3 70.2 99.5

Long Term Debt 21.3   35   86   114.6   382.2  Capital Leases & Current Portion 0   0   0   0.1   1  Unearned Revenue, Non-Current 0.3   0.2   1.5   0.9   2.4  Non current deferred liab -­‐   -­‐   -­‐   -­‐   -­‐  Other Non-Current Liabilities 1   4.9   13.5   3.1   0.9  Total Non current liab 22.6   40.1   101   118.7   386.5  

Total Liabilities 60.2 80.7 162.3 188.9 486.0

Common Stock 0   0   0   0   0  Additional Paid In Capital 62.4   63.2   76   167.7   182.8  Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit) -43.9 -45.4 -66.2 -89.2 -69.9 Treasury Stock - - - - - Gains (Losses) Not Affecting Retained Earnings -0.4 -0.7 -0.3 -0.9 -2.4

Total Common Equity 18.1 17.1 9.5 77.6 110.5

Minority Interest - - - - - Total Equity 18.1 17.1 9.5 77.6 110.5

Total Liabilities and Equity 78.3 97.8 171.8 266.5 596.5

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Appendix 4: Balance Sheet (Projected) Forecasted

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Cash And Equivalents 98.0 179.4 246.8 316.1 391.0 Accounts Receivable 73.1 80.2 87.9 95.8 104.5 Other Recievables - - - - -

Total Receivables 73.1 80.2 87.9 95.8 104.5 Inventory - - - - - Prepaid Exp. 10.2 11.0 11.8 12.7 13.8 Other Current Assets 5.7 6.2 6.7 7.1 7.8

Total Current Assets 187.03 276.8 353.2 431.7 517.0

Gross Property, Plant & Equipment 106.6 124.2 152.1 182.3 215.2 Accumulated Depreciation (72.6) (95.6) (120.7) (148.1) (177.9)

Net Property, Plant & Equipment 33.9 28.7 31.4 34.2 37.3

Long-term Investments - - - - - Goodwill 271.0 271.0 271.0 271.0 271.0 Other Intangibles 182.2 182.2 182.2 182.2 182.2 Deferred Tax Assets, Current & LT - - - - - Deferred Charges, LT - - - - - Other Long-Term Assets 11.6 11.6 11.6 11.6 11.6

Total Assets 685.8 770.3 849.4 930.7 1,019.1

Accounts Payable 30.4 32.8 35.2 37.6 41.0 Accrued Expenses 50.1 52.7 55.3 60.2 65.7 Curr. Income Taxes Payable - - - - - ST Debt and lease obligations 13.8 14.9 16.0 17.1 18.7 Other Current Liabilities 27.6 29.7 32.0 34.1 37.2

Total Current Liabilities 122.0 130.1 138.5 149.1 162.6

Long Term Debt 382.2 382.2 382.2 382.2 382.2 Capital Leases & Current Portion 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Unearned Revenue, Non-Current 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 Non current deferred liab - - - - - Other Non-Current Liabilities 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 Total Non current liab

Total Liabilities 508.48 516.6141122 525.0 535.6 549.1

Common Stock - - - - - Additional Paid In Capital 182.8 182.8 182.8 182.8 182.8 Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit) (3.2) 81.3 181.5 294.5 417.2 Treasury Stock - - - - - Gains (Losses) Not Affecting Retained Earnings (2.4) (2.4) (2.4) (2.4) (2.4)

Total Common Equity 177.2 261.7 361.9 474.9 597.6

Minority Interest - - - - - Total Equity 177.2 261.7 361.9 474.9 597.6

Total Liabilities and Equity 685.7 778.3 886.8 1,010.6 1,146.7

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Appendix 5: Balance Sheet Assumptions

Balance Sheet Assumptions

Historical Forecasted

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Net Working Capital (FCF-style) (22.7) (26.4) (34.1) (34.6) (21.2) (35.0) (30.2) (27.0) (29.5) (29.1)

Accounts Receivable % Revenue 12.0% 10.2% 14.2% 14.1% 16.4% 14.0% 14.0% 14.0% 14.0% 14.0%

Other Receivables % Revenue 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Inventory % COGS 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Prepaid Expenses % COGS 3.4% 2.5% 2.8% 3.0% 6.7% 3.7% 3.7% 3.7% 3.7% 3.7%

Other Current Assets % COGS 2.8% 1.7% 1.9% 1.9% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1%

Net PP&E as a % of Sales 3.5% 5.1% 13.0% 12.2% 10.5% 7.0% 7.0% 7.0% 7.0% 7.0%

Accounts Payable % COGS 25.7% 17.0% 20.4% 15.8% 11.1% 11.0% 11.0% 11.0% 11.0% 11.0%

Accrued Exp. % SG&A 39.2% 65.8% 74.4% 64.7% 42.4% 40.0% 40.0% 40.0% 40.0% 40.0%

ST Debt % of COGS 10.4% 10.3% 6.3% 4.8% 2.6% 5.0% 5.0% 5.0% 5.0% 5.0%

Other Crt. Liabilities % COGS 9.7% 8.7% 6.6% 11.1% 13.8% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0% 10.0%

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Appendix 6: Cash Flow Statement (Historical)

Historical 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Net Income 0.2 (1.6) (20.8) (23.0) 19.3 Add: Depreciation & Amortization 3.9 7.3 17.2 24.9 46.7 Less: Change in Net Working Capital - 3.7 7.7 0.5 (13.4) Less: Capital Expenditures -1.5 -3.6 -8.1 -6 -14.1

Operating Cash Flow 2.6 5.8 (4.0) (3.6) 38.5

Initial Cash Balance 6.6 3.4 4.7 5.8 49.3 Cash Available for Investors 9.2 9.2 0.7 2.2 87.8

Debt Additions (Repayments) 12   10.4   51.6   29.1   272.4  Dividend Payments - - - - - Equity Additions (Share Repurchase) 0.2 - - - - Historical Cash Adjustment (18.0) (14.9) (46.5) 18.0 (345.6)

Ending Cash Balance 3.4 4.7 5.8 49.3 14.6

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Appendix  7:  Cash  Flow  Statement  (Projected)  

Forecasted 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Net Income 37.6 55.4 71.1 84.0 93.6 Add: Depreciation & Amortization 27.1 22.9 25.1 27.4 29.8

Less: Change in Net Working Capital 11.7 (0.2) (0.6) 1.5 3.0

Less: Capital Expenditures (22.2) (17.6) (27.9) (30.2) (32.9) Operating Cash Flow 54.3 60.5 67.7 82.7 93.5

Initial Cash Balance 14.6 98.0 179.4 246.8 316.1 Cash Available for Investors 68.9 158.4 247.1 329.5 409.6

Debt Additions (Repayments) 29.1 29.1 29.1 29.1 29.1 Dividend Payments - - - - -

Equity Additions (Share Repurchase) - - - - -

Historical Cash Adjustment - - - - Ending Cash Balance 98.0 179.4 246.8 316.1 391.0

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Appendix 8: Core CompCo Summary

Company Ticker EV Market

Cap Revenu

e EBITD

A Net

Income P/E Weight

s EV/

EBITDA Weight

s EV/

Revenue Weigh

ts

GTT Communications GTT 1,290 898 431 87 19 30.9x 35% 14.9x 25% 3.0x 25%

Cogent Communications

Holdings CCOI 2,180 1,750 412 122 10 177.8x 5% 17.9x 25% 5.3x 25%

Level 3 Communications LVLT 28,750 18,100 8,230 2,620 3,440 5.3x 30% 11.0x 10% 3.5x 10%

Century Link CTL 35,620 15,800 17,850 6,800 922 17.1x 30% 5.2x 10% 2.0x 10%

Earthlink ELNK 1,120 715 1,070 228 (25) N/A 0% 4.9x 15% 1.0x 15%

Zayo Group ZAYO 10,790 6,900 1,580 722 (40) N/A 0% 15.0x 15% 6.83x 15%

High 35,620 18,100 17,850 6,800 3,440 177.8x 17.9x 6.8x Mean 13,292 7,360 4,929 1,763 721 57.8x 11.5x 3.6x Median 6,485 4,325 1,325 475 14 24.0x 12.9x 3.2x Weighted Mean 26.4x 12.8x 3.8x Low 1,120 715 412 87 (40) 5.3x 4.9x 1.0x

P/E LTM EPS $0.77 Implied Price Target $20.34 Upside (Downside) % -15.0%

EV/EBITDA LTM EBITDA $86.68 Implied Price Target $19.06 Upside (Downside) % -20.4%

EV/Revenue LTM Revenue $431.33 Implied Price Target $33.32 Upside (Downside) % 39.2%

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Appendix 9: Wide CompCo Summary

Company Ticker EV Market

Cap Revenue EBITDA Net

Income P/E! EV/

EBITDA EV/

Revenue

GTT Communications GTT 1,290.0 898.0 431.3 86.7 19.1 30.86   14.88   2.99  

Level 3 Communications LVLT 28,750.0 18,100.0 8,230.0 2,620.0 3,440.0

5.26   10.97   3.49  

Century Link CTL 35,620.0 15,800.0 17,850.0 6,800.0 922.0 17.14   5.24   2.00  

United Online UNTD 66.8 164.8 145.3 15.1 3.4 49.05   4.43   0.46  

Cogent Communications

Holdings CCOI 2,180.0 1,750.0 411.7 121.6 9.8

177.85   17.92   5.30   Frontier

Communications Corp FTR 21,370.0 5,840.0 5,560.0 2,250.0 - 9.50   3.84  

Zayo Group ZAYO 10,790.0 6,900.0 1,580.0 722.0 - 14.94   6.83  

Earthlink ELNK 1,120 715 1,070 228 (25) 4.92   1.05  

High                          177.8      17.9      6.8    

Low  5.3      4.4      0.5    

Mean  56.0      10.4      3.2    

Median                          30.86      10.2      3.2    

P/E LTM EPS $0.78 Implied Price Target $24.07 Upside (Downside) % 0.6%

EV/EBITDA LTM EBITDA $86.68 Implied Price Target $13.07 Upside (Downside) % -45.4%

EV/Revenue LTM Revenue $431.33 Implied Price Target $26.82 Upside (Downside) % 12.0%

Page 29: Urja Lakhani - GTT - Equity Research

 

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Appendix 10: Wide Precedent Transactions Summary

Date   Buyer   Target   Type   EV   LTM  Sales  EV/Revenue  

11/7/16 Windstream Inc Earthlink Public/Public $1,100,000,000 $1,070,000,000 1.03

10/31/16 Century Link Level 3 Communications Public/Public $34,000,000,000 $8,230,000,000 4.13

6/20/16  CommunicaEons  Sales  &  Leasing,  Inc     Tower  Cloud  Inc.     Public/Private    $230,000,000      $175,000,000     1.31  

4/18/16  Consolidated  CommunicaEons  Holdings  

Champaign  Telephone  (CTC)   Public/Private    $13,000,000      $10,000,000     1.3  

1/15/16  Zayo  Group   Allstream  (canadian)   Public/Public   360,000,000   461000000   0.78  

10/1/15  GTT   ONS   Public/Private    $175,000,000      $74,600,000     2.35  

2/19/15  GTT  Megapath  (Managed  services  segment)   Public/  Private    $152,300,000      $124,000,000     1.23  

2/8/15   GTT     Telnes     Public/Private    $18,000,000      $17,000,000     1.06  10/31/14   Level  3  communicaEons     TW  Telecom     Public/Public  

 $5,300,000,000    

 $1,560,000,000     2.99  

10/1/14  GTT   UNSI   Public/Private    $40,000,000      $55,000,000     0.73  

4/21/14  Birch  CommunicaEons   Cbeyond   Private/Private    $323,000,000      $350,000,000     0.92  12/31/13   Fusion     Broadvox   Public/  Private    $32,100,000      $30,900,000     1.04  11/16/13   Vonage  Holdings  Corp.     Vocalocity     Public/Private    $129,000,000      $44,500,000     2.90  

9/27/13  Wide  Open  West  SoluEons   Bluemile   Private/Private    $20,000,000      $8,900,000     2.25  

8/30/13   Intermedia.net   TelaneEx   Private/Private    $49,700,000      $33,900,000     1.47  

7/2/13  Earthlink     Center  beam     Public/Private    $22,000,000      $4,400,000     5.00  

4/30/13  GTT    Tinet  (segment  of  inteliquent)   Public/Public    $54,400,000      $69,500,000     0.78  

7/2/12  Consolidated  CommunicaEons  Holdings   Sure  west  communicaEons    Public/  Private    $564,000,000      $248,000,000     2.3  

3/23/12  Shoretel   M5  Networks   Public/  Private    $183,900,000      $48,200,000     3.82  

9/15/11  8x8  Inc.   Contactual   Public/Private    $27,100,000      $9,000,000     3.01  

8/5/11   Warwick  Valley  Telephone   Alteva   Private/  Private    $17,800,000      $6,400,000     2.78  

6/6/11   West  Corp.   Smoothstone   Public/  Private    $120,000,000      $30,000,000     4.00  

3/2/11   Earthlink     STS  Telecome   Public/  Private    $34,800,000      $22,900,000     1.52  


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