Repayment of existing debt & long-term refinancing

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Ltd

01 July 2024

 

This announcement contains inside information.

1 July 2024

LEI: 213800T8RBBWZQ7FTF84

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited

Repayment of existing debt and long-term refinancing

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited (the "Company" or "CORD"), an operationally focused, specialist digital infrastructure investor, is pleased to announce the refinancing of its Eurobond facility and repayment of the €30 million vendor loan note agreed in connection with the purchase of Speed Fibre.

The Company announces the signing of a new €200 million Eurobond facility ("New Eurobond"), which will refinance the existing €200 million Eurobond ("Original Eurobond") signed by the Company's indirect subsidiary Cordiant Digital Holdings Two Limited in June 2022. This refinancing provides greater certainty and flexibility for the group by extending the maturity of CORD's holding company-level term debt from September 2026 to July 2029, with a bullet repayment structure.

The Company is also to make full repayment of the circa €30 million vendor loan note issued as part of the acquisition of Speed Fibre, which completed in October 2023. The repayment will be made from existing cash resources and will provide the Company greater flexibility as it takes forward its growth plans for Speed Fibre.

As part of the refinancing, the Company has also arranged additional complementary undrawn credit facilities totalling €175 million, split between a growth capex facility ("Capex Facility") of €105 million and a multi-currency revolving credit facility ("RCF") of €70 million. These additional facilities have the same maturity date and repayment structure as the New Eurobond and provide the Company with an incremental long-term funding commitment for growth investments under CORD's Buy, Build & Grow model, and can enable more efficient management of the group's balance sheet.

The new facilities ("New Facilities") were significantly oversubscribed and are being provided by a consortium of blue-chip institutions comprising investment banks DNB and Nomura, and funds managed/and or advised by Schroders Capital, UBS Asset Management, Infranity (formerly Generali Global Infrastructure), IFM Investors, and PATRIZIA. The New Facilities will be issued by Cordiant Digital Holdings UK Limited, the Company's wholly owned, direct subsidiary that is the holding company for the Company's portfolio companies in Europe.

The terms on the New Eurobond represent an improvement on the Original Eurobond, with a longer tenor and improved credit margin rachet, which will range from 3.75% to 4.75% over EURIBOR or the 5-year EURIBOR swap rate, depending on net leverage. Three quarters of the New Eurobond will be issued as a fixed rate instrument, with the remaining amount to be floating rate in nature. Both the Capex Facility and the RCF will be floating rate facilities. The Company is putting in place interest rate hedging lines to manage its variable rate exposure and ensure that it is well positioned to take advantage of any further future reductions in long-term interest rates. Closing of the New Facilities remains subject to the satisfaction of a small number of administrative conditions precedent and is expected to occur shortly,   

The Company's net gearing ratio was 38.9% as at 31 March 2024. On a pro forma basis, if all the New Facilities are fully drawn, the Company's net gearing ratio would be 44%, below the 50% limit set out in the Company's IPO prospectus. On the same pro forma basis, the weighted average margin across the whole portfolio would increase slightly to 3.3% from 2.9%.

The Company's total available liquidity disclosed as at 31 March 2024, pro forma for this refinancing, would have increased to £291 million from £168 million.

Shonaid Jemmett-Page, Chairman of the Company, said:

"Following a good set of annual results, we have taken active steps to prudently manage the Company's debt positions and extend the duration of its financing arrangements, while retaining flexibility to continue the growth and diversification of the portfolio in line with our Buy, Build & Grow model. The successful raising of the new facilities from leading institutions is testament to the Company's high-quality portfolio we have created with long-term contracts, blue-chip customers and inflation-linked revenues."

Steven Marshall, Chairman of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, said:

"We are delighted by the successful outcome of the refinancing, which affirms the strength of the portfolio which we have assembled, and which follows the good performance we announced recently in the Company's 2024 annual results. We believe that this transaction positions the Company well considering geopolitical and economic uncertainties and provides significant runway to underpin the continuing growth of CORD."

For further information, please visit www.cordiantdigitaltrust.com or contact:

Cordiant Capital Inc. Investment Manager Stephen Foss, Managing Director	[phone]
Aztec Company Secretary and Administrator Chris Copperwaite / Laura Dunning	[phone]
Investec Bank plc Joint Corporate Broker Tom Skinner (Corporate Broking) Lucy Lewis / Denis Flanagan (Corporate Finance)	[phone]
Jefferies International Limited Joint Corporate Broker Stuart Klein / Gaudi Le Roux	[phone]
Celicourt PR Adviser Philip Dennis / Felicity Winkles / Ali AlQahtani	[phone]

Notes to Editors:

About the Company

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited (the "Company") primarily invests in the core infrastructure of the digital economy - data centres, fibre-optic networks and telecommunication and broadcast towers - in Europe and North America. Further details about the Company can be found on its website at www.cordiantdigitaltrust.com.

The Company is a sector-focused specialist owner and operator of Digital Infrastructure, listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CORD. In total, the Company has successfully raised £795 million in equity, along with a debt package that includes a €200m Eurobond with a consortium of blue-chip institutions; deploying the proceeds into five acquisitions: CRA, Hudson, Emitel, Speed Fibre and Norkring, which together offer stable, often index-linked income, and the opportunity for growth, in line with the Company's Buy, Build & Grow model.

About the Investment Manager

Cordiant Capital Inc ("Cordiant") is a specialist global infrastructure and real assets manager with a sector-led approach to providing growth capital solutions to promising mid-sized companies in Europe, North America and selected global markets. Since the firm's relaunch in 2016, Cordiant, a partner-owned and partner-run firm, has developed a track record of exceeding mandated investment targets for its clients.

Cordiant focuses on the next generation of infrastructure and real assets: sectors (digital infrastructure, energy transition infrastructure and the agriculture value chain) characterised by growth tailwinds and technological dynamism. It also applies a strong sustainability and ESG overlay to its investment activities.

With a mix of managed funds offering both value-add and core strategies in equity and direct lending, Cordiant's sector investment teams (combining experienced industry executives with traditional private capital investors) work with investee companies to develop innovative, tailored financing solutions backed by a comprehensive understanding of the sector and demonstrated operating capabilities. In this way, Cordiant aims to provide value to investors seeking to complement existing infrastructure equity and infrastructure debt allocations.

 

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