Covad acquired by private equity firm

Covad Communications has agreed to be acquired by Platinum Equity for about $304 million in cash, the companies announced today.

Platinum will pay $1.02 per share in cash for the 11-year-old broadband provider.

“There is opportunity for growth as the demand for high-bandwidth services continues to evolve, and we’re eager to help Covad drive that growth, ” Johnny Lopez, Platinum Equity partner, said in a prepared statement today.

Covad reported nearly $241 million in revenue for the first half of this year (up less than 2% from 2006) and a net loss of more than $26 million (after a more than $3 million profit last year). At the end of June it had nearly $35 million in cash and equivalents, down 25% from the beginning of the year.

Covad’s acquisition is only the latest purchase by private equity firms in the telecom space. Private investors have acquired Alltel, 3Com and ECI Telecom in recent months.