Following its rapid growth in recent years, USTC Corp to further expand its footprint and customer base in the U.S. with acquisition of Walker and Associates

July 22, 2021, Edison, New Jersey & Welcome, North Carolina – USTC Corp, Inc., a leading value-added distributor of telecommunications materials and supply chain solutions, announced today that it has acquired Walker and Associates Inc., the premiere U.S. value-added distributor of telecommunications products and services, from the founding Walker family. The financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in 2017 by Cédric Varasteh and backed by Washington, D.C. headquartered global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG), USTC Corp is a leading one stop shop for all materials, product design, technical expertise, and value-added distribution of passive and active equipment and tooling from over 750 global suppliers for telecommunications, Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC), Fiber To The Home (FTTH), Fiber To The x (FTTx), wireless, and data center technologies, as well as supply chain management solutions. USTC Corp is a trusted partner for all technical and logistics expertise with extensive Broadband Fiber Networks capabilities, and an experienced team of over 200 employees with 3 facilities across the U.S.

Founded in 1970, Walker and Associates is a U.S. distributor of network products for over 1,000 broadband providers, including wireline, wireless, utilities, cable TV, government, and enterprise network operators. Walker’s extensive range of products from over 400 suppliers enables carriers to deploy broadband, video, data, and voice services to residential, business, and 5G mobile subscribers. Walker delivers communications infrastructure such as Fiber-To-The-Home, fiber access architecture, packet optical networking, fixed wireless, carrier ethernet, switching, routing, and VoIP to an established base of U.S. network operators.

For USTC Corp, this transaction allows it to further expand its footprint and customer base in the United States. USTC Corp has 3 distribution locations – 2 in Edison, New Jersey including its corporate headquarters, with expanded operations in Dallas, Texas. Walker and Associates brings 2 additional locations – Winston Salem, North Carolina and Reno, Nevada. The synergies of a combined USTC Corp and Walker and Associates will leverage superior expertise in global supply chain management and telecom technologies. The combined company’s distribution capabilities will support regional and national customers’ active and passive equipment needs for network deployments, upgrades, and maintenance.

For Walker and Associates, the transaction provides an expanded portfolio of solutions for its customers, particularly with additional distribution services, increased network infrastructure design capacity, technical services, supply chain management services and logistics outsourcing for telecommunications service providers, critical infrastructure, and rural broadband service providers. The combined company’s greater scale and supply continuity will support tight integration timelines during peak construction times.

Cédric Varasteh, Founder and CEO of USTC Corp, said: “The acquisition of Walker and Associates is a milestone in USTC’s growth. It allows us to further expand our technical expertise and one stop shop offering to our valued customers across our footprint. Walker is a perfect fit for us. Given the complement of products and services without overlapping resources in the unification of our two organizations, we are positioned for future expansions, and are proud to be creating more American jobs. As our guiding principles outline, we value the people who do the work as well as the work they do. Together with Walker and Associates, we will continue redefining what a telecom equipment distributor and value-added service provider can be and do for our customers. We look forward to working with their team and are very excited about the future we can build together.”

Chrystie Walker Brown, CEO of Walker and Associates, said: “The USTC and Walker cultures dovetail beautifully. Chris and Virginia Walker founded Walker and Associates with a customer-first, trusted-first focus, and we have preserved that priority for 50 years. USTC shares that commitment, and we are delighted and confident that this will continue.” Mark Walker, President, added “We are excited to join forces with USTC. Our combined core-to-edge products and services solutions will better support our customers’ critical infrastructure build plans. Our successful go-to-market team will have a greater complement of products to offer. We need more capacity for our proven offers, and we’re thrilled to create more highly skilled jobs with this combination of great companies.”

Vladimir Lasocki, Managing Director at Carlyle, and Cyril Bourdarot, Director at Carlyle and Chairman of USTC Corp’s parent group, concluded: “We are delighted to support USTC Corp in this transformational acquisition. Walker and Associates brings further scale, expertise, and capabilities to USTC’s existing strong presence in the U.S. market, which is strategically important and attractive due to its size and accelerating fiber, 5G and more generally IP infrastructure deployments. The acquisition of Walker and Associates is a key milestone in our strategy to build a global one-stop shop value added distribution leader with unique expertise and scale to address all equipment needs of operators and installers for all technologies in the telecom sector.”

Advisors on the transaction:

• M&A Advisor (Buy side): Bank Street Group LLC
• M&A Advisor (Sell side): Fifth Third Capital Markets
• Legal Advisor (Buy side): DLA Piper
• Legal Advisor (Sell side): Waldrep Wall Babcock & Bailey PLLC

About USTC Corp

USTC Corp is a leading one stop shop for all materials, distribution, and supply chain management solutions for telecommunications, HFC, FTTH, and FTTx technologies. Founded in 2017 by CEO and Chairman of the Board, Cédric Varasteh, and headquartered in Edison, NJ with expanded operations in Dallas, TX, USTC Corp is a trusted partner for all technical and logistics expertise with extensive Broadband Fiber Networks experience. With flexible delivery models, a plug-and-play approach, and modular set of value-added services, USTC Corp believes that customers deserve customization. With over 200 employees across 3 facilities in the US, USTC’s world-class team is fully dedicated to customer satisfaction, reliability, and supporting the most specialized needs of their valued customers with outstanding service. To learn more, visit www.ustc-corp.com and follow USTC Corp on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/USTCcorp.

About Walker and Associates

Founded in 1970, Walker and Associates is a U.S. distributor of network products for over 1,000 broadband providers, including wireline, wireless, utilities, cable TV, government, and enterprise network operators. Walker’s extensive range of products from over 400 suppliers enables carriers to deploy broadband, video, data, and voice services to residential, business, and 5G mobile subscribers. Walker delivers communications infrastructure such as Fiber-To-The-Home, fiber access architecture, packet optical networking, fixed wireless, carrier ethernet, switching, routing, and VoIP to an established base of U.S. network operators. To learn more, visit www.walkerfirst.com and follow Walker and Associates on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/walkerandassociates.

About Carlyle

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across four business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Investment Solutions. With $260 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of our investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 1,800 professionals in 29 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

Media Contacts:

USTC Corp:

Lindsay Hittner, Director of Marketing

Phone: +1 732-718-6283

Email: lindsay.hittner@ustc-corp.com

Walker and Associates:

Gus Vasilakis, VP of Marketing

Phone: +1 412-417-2232

Email: gus.vasilakis@walkerfirst.com

Carlyle:

Andrew Kenny, Head of EMEA Corporate Communications

Phone: +44 7816 176120

Email: andrew.kenny@carlyle.com