Macquarie Asset Management has disclosed taking part in a previously announced £985m (€1.1bn) financing package for Community Fibre, a UK fibre network operator owned by Warburg Pincus, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), Amber Infrastructure and Railpen.
Macquarie, which is investing on behalf of its institutional clients and managed funds, said it made a £100m debt financing to help Community Fibre accelerate the rollout of its network across London and its surrounding areas.
Community Fibre builds, owns, and operates a full-fibre network in London, delivering broadband to more than 720,000 customers. It is the capital’s largest full-fibre broadband provider.
This investment marks Macquarie’s first financing to a UK fibre network operator.
Tom Van Rijsewijk, managing director at Macquarie Asset Management, said “With the increasing digitisation of our society and economy, access to faster and more reliable broadband has never been more important.
“We are very pleased to be able to provide this financing to Community Fibre, offering an opportunity for our investors to help more communities across London access ultrafast broadband.”
In July 2020, Warburg Pincus and DTCP invested capital in Community Fibre for a controlling stake in the London broadband provider, alongside its existing investors Amber Infrastructure and Railpen. At the time, Community Fibre said it expected up to £400m investment to be made by Warburg Pincus funds and DTCP, alongside the existing investors.
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