Network operator GTT has entered into an agreement to sell its infrastructure division to Squared Capital in a deal worth $2.15 billion. For the money, Squared Capital will walk away with GTT's pan-European, North American, sub-sea, and transatlantic fiber networks and data center infrastructure.

The deal will provide some much-needed debt relief for the network operator which faces more than $3.3 billion of long-term debt. Of that, $2.6 billion is set to mature in 2025 and another $575 million of unsecured notes is set to mature at the end of 2024.

GTT announced its intention to liquidate its infrastructure division and fiber assets in a bid to deleverage the business last fall, and it selected Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs to find a buyer.

Many of these assets were acquired with the purchase of Interoute, Hibernia, and KPN International and include a 103,000-kilometer network with more than 400 points of presence in Europe and North America, three transatlantic cables, 14 tier-three data centers, and more than 100 colocation facilities.

“We came to the conclusion last fall that it was time to take those assets, put them into a division, and see what attractiveness there was for people who really do understand and want to be a financial source for the future of the development of technologies that we’re on the forefront of right now,” said Chairman Brian Thompson, on an earnings call in March.

Thompson aims to refocus the company on network transformation, and he added that infrastructure turned out not to be GTT's forté.

To this end, GTT has invested heavily in SDN technologies like SD-WAN. The company now offers managed SD-WAN based on VMware's VeloCloud and Fortinet's technologies services.

“The divestment of the highly differentiated infrastructure division assets will ensure greater focus on network investment and development of high-speed infrastructure services under the more specialized ownership of this experienced investor,” said Ernie Ortega, GTT CRO and interim CEO, in a statement.

The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

The infrastructure sale comes amid turbulent times for GTT. The company posted a 4.4% decline in year-over-year revenues and an overall net loss of $83.3 million during its first-quarter earnings call in May.

That same month GTT announced Richard Calder, the company's CEO of 13 years, would be stepping down. He was replaced in the interim by Ortega in July.

In August, GTT failed to file its 10-Q forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission, causing the company to fall out of compliance with the New York Stock Exchange. GTT has until Feb. 17, 2021, to file the form. GTT has not held regular earnings reports since May.

Then, in September, GTT announced Daniel Fraser, the company's interim CFO, would be leaving the company Sept. 22, and Steve Berns would be assuming his duties.