Shoosmiths advises Equitix as it accelerates fibre roll-out
May, 2022 - Milton Keynes, England
Shoosmiths’ specialist Digital Infrastructure team has advised Equitix, one of Europe’s leading infrastructure investors, on its £84 million commitment into fibre ‘altnet’ Freedom Fibre.
Equitix, a leading global investor, developer, and long-term fund manager of core infrastructure assets, has made an initial £84m funding commitment into Freedom Fibre. The cash will accelerate the roll-out of FTTP by Freedom Fibre, which is predominantly through the installation of fibre across BT’s existing infrastructure. Alongside support from the Santander debt facility, the investment combined totals a £100m commitment to scale up funding.
The deal was led by corporate partner Helen Burnell alongside Shoosmiths’ head of Energy & Infrastructure sector, James Wood-Robertson. The deal was supported by Mandip Riar (senior associate, Corporate), Melissa Gray (associate, Corporate) and Elizabeth Roberts (associate, Corporate) with cross divisional expertise across the Shoosmiths team spanning tax, commercial, competition, employment, property specialists amongst others.
This latest transaction marks the second (and largest) investment that Shoosmiths have supported Equitix on, with the total value of deals advised on by Digital Infrastructure team in this sector nearing £500 million over the last 21 months.
James Wood-Robertson commented: “We’re delighted to have once again supported Equitix in this latest investment in the fibre broadband space. Digital infrastructure is a key focus area and strength within our sector group which is bolstered by the incredible cross division support as seen in this recent transaction.”
Helen Burnell added: “This sizeable investment will once again support Equitix as it looks to provide local communities with affordable, high quality and essential digital infrastructure. It’s been a pleasure to work alongside their team again, as Shoosmiths further cements our strong credentials within this key market.”
Rebecca Collins, managing director, investments, at Equitix said “We are looking forward to investing in and developing Freedom Fibre’s network roll-out. We understand Freedom Fibre to be a strong business, operating in an essential infrastructure sector that has a critical role in providing connectivity for communities - and we’re delighted to engage again with Shoosmiths and benefit from their valuable expertise in this next chapter.”
