Birch acquiring Cbeyond for $323 million

Birch Communications, an Atlanta-based provider of communication services to small and medium-sized businesses, is acquiring Cbeyond, another communications company serving the same market, for about $323 million.

The companies said the all-cash acquisition will create a nationwide communications, cloud and managed services provider with approximately $700 million in annual revenue. The combined company will have about 200,000 business customers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Cbeyond Chairman James Geiger said the company had been reviewing a possible deal for six months.