St. Louis-based Gateway Fiber and Kansas City-based WANRack are announcing a merger that combines the resources of both companies into a national FTTX platform serving residents, businesses, and schools across 25 US states. 

Gateway Fiber is an FTTP developer and operator started in 2019 that serves residential and commercial customers across Missouri, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Launched in 2013, WANRack is an integrated broadband provider that serves school districts and libraries through its E-Rate program and residential and commercial customers in eastern Kansas through its KWIKOM subsidiary. 

The merger of the two companies results in greater scale, improved operations, and growth opportunities for the new combined organization and its employees. Additionally, the combination of both organizations opens up new opportunities to further expand product offerings for small and medium businesses and fulfill more commercial and wholesale internet needs. 

“Today, more than half of US households don't have access to fiber internet, and many school districts lack sufficient bandwidth for their students,” said Chris Surdo, CEO of the new company. “As a unified organization, especially with WANRack’s E-Rate offering, we have an exciting opportunity to expand our mission of serving customers and communities across our footprint.” 

A fund owned by CBRE Investment Management is the majority owner of both Gateway Fiber and WANRack. 

“As two high-growth fiber companies in our portfolio, bringing WANRack and Gateway Fiber’s complementary capabilities together made strategic sense,” said Noi Spyratos, Managing Director, Private Infrastructure at CBRE IM. “This positions the combined company to benefit from the opportunity to scale, diversify offerings in new markets, and unlock growth. Our team fully supports Chris and the new team’s vision and leadership.” 

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to required regulatory approvals. Throughout the merger process, customers will continue to experience the same excellent level of service they have come to expect from each company. 

The new executive team includes key members of both organizations. 

From Gateway Fiber: 

• Chris Surdo, Chief Executive Officer

• Nathan McIntyre, Chief Information Officer 

• John Meyer, Chief Customer Officer 

• Jim Rosema, SVP, Customer Operations 

• Jason Johns, SVP, Network Deployment 

From WANRack: 

• Todd Barfield, Chief Legal Officer 

• Maria Davis, Chief of Staff 

• Blake Mayfield, VP, E-Rate Sales 

• Shweta Bhatia, VP, Human Resources