Shortly after its founding in March 1997, Global Crossing Ltd. (“Global Crossing”) would go on to become the first independent provider of long-distance telecommunications facilities and services around the world boosted by a detailed network of undersea digital fiber optic cable systems and related terrestrial backhaul abilities. Global Crossing came to be known as a “carrier’s carrier,” providing multifaceted pricing tiers and segmented products to licensed suppliers of global telecommunications services.
Global Crossing’s operations kicked off when it was seeking a contract to build Atlantic Crossing (“AC-l”), a digital fiber optic cable system encompassing more than 10,000 kilometers to connect the United States, Germany, the U.K., and the Netherlands. After AC-1, Global Crossing further expanded, building digital cable systems to link the United States with Japan, while conducting operations on the North American east and west coast. Once it underwent a merger with Frontier Communications (the owner and operator of a sizeable terrestrial fiber-optic network), Global Crossing turned into a global provider of end-to-end telecommunications services.
Two years after its founding, Global Crossing had its initial public offering and enjoyed tremendous success. It soon earned another distinction as the fastest company to reach a $40 billion market capitalization up to that time. In October 2011, Level 3 Communications acquired Global Crossing. During its heyday, Global Crossing also earned yet another distinction by becoming the first to natively deploy IPv6 among its private and public networks.
Trimaran’s initial private equity fund was a founding investor in Global Crossing. The investment came to an end via public equity markets.