UK full-fiber broadband infrastructure provider CityFibre says it has raised £1.125 billion ($1.54 billion) in additional capital. The total includes £825 million in equity funding that includes new investors Mubadala Investment Co. of Abu Dhabi and Interogo Holding. The rest comes from a a £300 million ($409.7 million) extension of its existing £820 million ($1.13 billion) banking facilities, with Crédit Agricole CIB and National Australia Bank joining the syndicate. CityFibre says it will use the funds to support its plans to deploy broadband fiber to a third of the UK market by 2025.
Mubadala Investment Co. and Interogo Holding join existing investors Antin Infrastructure Partners and the Infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs), as minority shareholders. Crédit Agricole CIB and National Australia Bank take their places alongside ABN Amro, Banca IMI, BNP Paribas, Lloyds, NatWest, and Société Générale in the banking syndicate.
“We’re thrilled to announce the completion of a £1.125 billion capital raise, the largest ever secured to support the UK’s Full Fibre future. We also take great pleasure in welcoming Mubadala and Interogo Holding as new investors in this important project,” commented Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre. “This new capital will not only underpin our rollout to up to 8 million homes across 285 cities, towns, and villages, but will also enable our participation in the Government’s ‘Project Gigabit’ program to extend our future-proof infrastructure to rural areas and ensure no one is left behind.”
CityFibre has signed on Vodafone, TalkTalk, and Zen, as well as mobile operator 3UK, as customers. The company says it also supports 24 smaller regional consumer ISPs as well as more than 1,800 business ISPs and resellers. Services are now live in 46 markets.
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