Investment into subsea & terrestrial fibre system

RNS Number : 6725G

Digital 9 Infrastructure PLC

28 July 2021

 

28 July 2021

DIGITAL 9 INFRASTRUCTURE PLC

("D9" or the "Company")

£50m investment into subsea and terrestrial fibre system

The Company is pleased to announce that is has entered into definitive agreements to deploy over £50 million into the development of a new intercontinental fibre system.

Key highlights:

· The new system is an innovative, carrier-neutral network platform between Europe, the Middle-East and India comprising subsea and terrestrial fibre assets which will connect key locations in these regions.

· The Company is investing over £50 million over a three-year period, alongside a leading global content provider and consortium.

· Aqua Comms, the subsea fibre operating business acquired by the Company immediately following its IPO in March 2021, will market and operate this route under the name Europe Middle-East India Connect 1 (EMIC-1).

· This project, which is one of the pipeline investments identified at IPO, will add a further key route to D9's existing portfolio of subsea fibre networks and forms part of the Company's global expansion plan for subsea fibre routes. Following completion of the new system, the Company will have an interest in approximately 30,000km of subsea and related terrestrial fibre networks, connecting four continents.

Commenting on the transaction, Thor Johnsen, Head of Digital Infrastructure at Triple Point, said:

"This investment reaffirms D9's guiding principle: to improve digital infrastructure globally and reduce the digital divide. We continue to make progress on the Company's wider pipeline of investment opportunities and we look forward to providing further updates to the market on these in due course. In addition, we expect this innovative network to unlock further digital infrastructure opportunities."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY, PLEASE CONTACT

Triple Point Investment Management LLP (Investment Manager) Thor Johnsen Andre Karihaloo	[phone]
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Corporate Broker) William Simmonds Jérémie Birnbaum	[phone]
Akur Capital (Financial Adviser) Tom Frost Anthony Richardson Siobhan Sergeant	[phone]

LEI: 213800OQLX64UNS38U92

NOTES:

Digital 9 Infrastructure plc is a newly established, externally managed investment trust which invests in a range of digital infrastructure assets which deliver a reliable, functioning internet.

"Digital infrastructure" refers to the critical infrastructure required for the internet to operate and, essentially, refers to everything from fibre networks that connect continents, businesses and homes (the very "backbone" of the internet), to the data centres that organisations use to house their critical networks of computer and storage resources, and to the towers and small cells that carry data traffic wirelessly to the end user.

The Company is focused on the provision of Digital Infrastructure integrated with green and cleaner power in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 9: "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation".

The Company's portfolio will comprise future proofed, non-legacy, scalable platforms and technologies including (but not limited to) subsea fibre, data centres, terrestrial fibre, tower infrastructure and small cell networks (including 5G).

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 asset and project finance, portfolio management and structured investments. The Investment Manager's digital infrastructure team has a proven track record of over US$2 billion of infrastructure investments and, in addition, benefits from a panel of digital infrastructure industry experts with deep knowledge, relationships and involvement in a combined US$250 billion of digital infrastructure transactions.

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.

For more information, please visit  www.d9infrastructure.com .

 

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