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.