SFR FttH, a newly-formed venture owned by Altice Europe, OMERS Infrastructure, Allianz Capital Partners and AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets, is buying a fibre infrastructure platform in France for €1.0bn.

Altice said SFR FttH has entered into an agreement with equal stake owners Cube Infrastructure Fund and Partners Group to buy Covage. 

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the first half of 2020.

Covage is the fourth largest fibre wholesale operator in France with 2.4m homes (including 0.8m homes already built) which will be added to SFR FttH footprint of more than 5.4m secured homes (including 1.7m homes built).

Philippe Busslinger, head of Europe for OMERS Infrastructure said: “Today’s news reaffirms the commitment of our partnership to accelerate the roll-out of optical fibre networks in France.

”We are delighted with our investment in SFR FttH to date and its potential as a growth platform.” 

Ralph Berg, OMERS global head of infrastructure, said: “Our support for this transaction underlines OMERS Infrastructure’s desire to increase our portfolio’s exposure to high-quality telecom infrastructure assets.

“It also speaks directly to our view of France as one of the most attractive jurisdictions for financial infrastructure investors like ourselves that want to support the build-up of fibre networks.”

Patrick Drahi, founder of Altice, said: “We are extremely proud to integrate Covage, a great company, with a portfolio of areas in France complementary to ours.

“With this transaction, we also bring onboard excellent local relationships.

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