New CityFibre £4.9 billion debt package further funds FTTH aspirations

UK alternative broadband infrastructure operator CityFibre says it has arranged a £4.9 billion ($6.15 billion) debt package. The funding, which comprises committed facilities of £3.9 billion ($4.9 billion) and an accordion facility of £1 billion ($1.26 billion), will fully fund CityFibre’s aspirations to reach a third of the UK market with fiber by 2025, the company asserts.

The new funding comes from a variety of financial institutions. NatWest, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole CIB, BBVA, Intesa Sanpaolo, ING, and SEB underwrote the debt. ABN AMRO, Lloyds Bank and the pensions, and M&G Investments participated as core lenders, as did the newly created UK Infrastructure Bank.

The new debt package comes on the heels of £1.125 billion ($1.41 billion) in equity investments the closed in the last 10 months from new investors Mubadala and Interogo Holding (see "CityFibre closes £1.125 billion financing extension") as well as from existing investors Antin Infrastructure Partners and the infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (see "CityFibre agrees to $750 million buyout from Goldman Sachs, Antin consortium").

All that money will go toward deploying fiber broadband infrastructure to 8 million homes, 800,000 businesses, 400,000 public sector sites, and 250,000 5G access points across the UK. CityFibre says it will be able to increase its participation within BDUK’s “Project Gigabit” rural program.

“Over the last decade we’ve built a business that has transformed the UK’s digital connectivity landscape for the better. With our rollout now fully financed, backed by so many esteemed financial institutions, we have emerged as a strong national challenger,” commented Greg Mesch, CityFibre’s CEO. “But CityFibre’s aim is not simply to challenge. It’s to be better. It’s to establish ourselves as the preferred network wherever we build, bringing higher-quality, more affordable infrastructure within reach of millions and unleashing the transformative economic potential of Full Fibre to help level up the UK. We have never been more confident that we will succeed.”

“We are pleased to act as a cornerstone investor in what will be the largest digital debt transaction in the UK market to date, connecting a third of UK households with fast and reliable broadband throughout England and Scotland,” added John Flint, CEO of the UK Infrastructure Bank. “It is clear how important good quality connectivity is for the UK economy, and in addressing regional inequalities.”

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