Company Update

Digital 9 Infrastructure PLC

27 October 2023

 

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE UK'S MARKET ABUSE REGULATION. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, SUCH INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

27 October 2023

DIGITAL 9 INFRASTRUCTURE PLC

("D9", the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Company Update

Further to the announcement on 17 October 2023 regarding the Company's shareholder consultation, the Board of Directors of Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (the "Board") continues to develop a set of actions focused on maximising value for D9's shareholders.

After careful consideration of the feedback received during the shareholder consultation, among the actions the Board is assessing is a divestment of the Company's entire stake in the Verne Global group of companies ("Verne Global") (the "Proposed Transaction"). The Company received indicative offers from interested parties for the Proposed Transaction during the competitive process to syndicate a majority stake in Verne Global to a strategic capital partner (the "Syndication") and executed terms are expected to be announced in Q4 2023.

Compared with the Syndication, the Board believes the Proposed Transaction would enable the Company to accelerate its balance sheet deleveraging, deliver the cash resources necessary for the Company and Group to strengthen their position, and further maximise shareholder value.

A further update will be provided on the Proposed Transaction in due course.

ENDS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY, PLEASE CONTACT:

Triple Point Investment Management LLP (Investment Manager) Diego Massidda Ben Beaton Arnaud Jaguin Goldman Sachs International (Lead Financial Adviser and Financial Adviser on the Proposed Transaction) Alexandre Lucas Owain Evans Fabrice Francois	[phone] [phone]
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Joint Corporate Broker) William Simmonds Jérémie Birnbaum	[phone]
Peel Hunt (Joint Corporate Broker) Luke Simpson Huw Jeremy	[phone]
FTI Consulting (Communications Adviser) Ed Berry Mitch Barltrop Maxime Lopes	[e-mail] [phone] [phone] [phone]

For the purposes of UK MAR, the identity of the person making this notification is Luke Cheshire.

LEI: 213800OQLX64UNS38U92

About Digital 9 Infrastructure plc:

Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (DGI9) is an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250, with the ticker DGI9. The Company invests in the infrastructure of the internet that underpins the world's digital economy: digital infrastructure.

The Investment Manager is Triple Point Investment Management LLP ("Triple Point") which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, with extensive experience in infrastructure, real estate, and private credit, while keeping ESG principles central to its business mission. Triple Point's Digital Infrastructure team has over $300 billion in digital infrastructure transaction experience and in-depth relationships across global tech and global telecoms companies.

The number 9 in Digital 9 Infrastructure comes from the UN Sustainable Development Goal 9, which focuses the fund on investments that increase connectivity globally and improve the sustainability of digital infrastructure. The assets DGI9 invests in typically comprise scalable platforms and technologies including (but not limited to) subsea fibre, data centres, terrestrial fibre and wireless networks.

Since IPO in March 2021, DGI9 has invested in the following data centres, subsea fibre and wireless network assets:

·   Aqua Comms, a leading owner and operator of 20,000km of the most modern subsea fibre systems - the backbone of the internet - with a customer base comprising global tech and global telecommunications carriers;

·    Arqiva, the only UK national terrestrial television and radio broadcasting network in the United Kingdom - providing data, network and communications services, as well as a national IoT connectivity platform;

·    Elio Networks (previously Host Ireland) a leading enterprise broadband provider that owns and operates Fixed Wireless Access networks;

·     EMIC-1, a partnership with Meta on a 10,000km fibre system from Europe to India;

·    SeaEdge UK1, a data centre and landing station for the North Sea Connect subsea cable, part of the North Atlantic Loop subsea network, improving connectivity between the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and North America;

·    Verne Global group of companies comprising:

o Verne Global Iceland, the leading Icelandic data centre platform, with 40MW of high intensity computing solutions in operation or development, powered by 100% baseload renewable power;

o  Verne Global London (previously Volta), a premier data centre based in central London, providing 6MW of retail co-location services;

o Verne Global Finland (previously Ficolo), a leading Finnish data centre and cloud infrastructure platform, with existing buildings capable of providing up to c.23MW of data centre capacity, powered by 100% renewable power and distributing surplus heat to district heating networks.

The Company's Ordinary Shares were admitted to trading on the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 31 March 2021. The Company's Ordinary Shares were admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the premium segment of the Main Market on 30 August 2022.

For more information on the Investment Manager please visit www.triplepoint.co.uk. For more information, please visit www.d9infrastructure.com.

Important Notices

Goldman Sachs International, which is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and the PRA in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for D9 and no one else in connection with the matters referred to in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than D9 for providing the protections afforded to clients of Goldman Sachs International, or for providing advice in relation to the matters referred to in this announcement.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc, which conducts its UK investment banking business as J.P. Morgan Cazenove and which is authorised in the United Kingdom by the PRA and regulated in the United Kingdom by the PRA and the FCA, ("J.P. Morgan Cazenove"), is acting as financial adviser exclusively to Digital 9 Infrastructure plc and no one else in connection with the shareholder consultation announced by the Company on 17 October 2023 (the "Consultation") and will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the Consultation and will not be responsible to anyone other than Digital 9 Infrastructure plc for providing the protections afforded to clients of J.P. Morgan Cazenove or its affiliates, nor for providing advice in relation to the Consultation or any other matter or arrangement referred to herein, including, but not limited to, the Proposed Transaction.

 

END