Irish fibre network operator Speed Fibre Group is to be sold to a UK investment fund in a €190.5 million deal.
Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (Cord), a London-based infrastructure investor specialising in the digital economy, will acquire the entire share capital of the Dublin-anchored group from the State-backed Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) and global infrastructure investment manager InfraBridge. The price tag includes an equity consideration of €97 million funded by €68 million in cash and €29 million through a loan note, Cord said on Thursday.
The UK company said it expects the deal to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval.
In a statement, Cord said Speed Fibre had “a stable business model”, generating “high revenue of” around €80 million last year and earnings before deductibles of €23 million.
The Irish group operates 5,400 kilometres of owned and leased fibre and wireless backhaul across the State and is “well positioned” to serve the growing data centre sector here, Cord said.
“Speed Fibre is uniquely positioned as the leading independent national fibre and wireless backhaul operator and is poised to play an expanding role in Ireland’s digital economy,” said Cord Captail chairman Steven Marshall. “We expect to drive organic growth from existing customer traffic on its current network plus invest growth capex in new strategic fibre projects around Ireland and beyond.”
Shonaid Jemmett-Page, chairman of Cord’s digital infrastructure business, said that with data consumption growth in the Republic expected to be “among the highest in Europe” over the coming years, Speed Fibre is a “strategic mileston” for the business as it enters the Irish market for the first time.
The sale brings to a conclusion InfraBridge’s disposal of the IIF’s portfolio of investments including companies such as Towercom and the Convention Centre in Dublin.
