J2 Global Communications Inc. on Monday said that it acquired competing Canadian company Protus IP Solutions Inc. for about $213 million.

J2 is a Los Angeles provider of value-added messaging and communications services in 49 countries. Spokesman Bill Threlkeld said Protus would be considered its No. 2 competitor in offering hosted email, Internet fax and virtual phone services to businesses.

Protus provides Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication services to businesses under the brand names MyFax, Campaigner and My1Voice. The acquisition “greatly expands our reach in our core markets,” Threlkeld said.

J2 funded the purchase out of its cash on hand. As a result of the acquisition, j2 would incur about $15 million in deal and integration-related expenses in the next nine months, with between $5 million and $11 million occurring in the current quarter.

The company also provided fourth quarter guidance. It now expects net earnings, excluding expenses related to the Protus deal, to be between 48 cents and 50 cents per share and revenue of between $69.5 million and $71.5 million Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expect the company to earn 49 cents on revenue of $66.7 million.

Shares were up 82 cents, or 3 percent, to $28.84 in midday trading on the Nasdaq.