On Monday, the British fiber broadband company CityFibre said that it has secured 2.26 billion pounds ($3.04 billion) in fresh funding from its current lenders and shareholders to finance network expansion and buy out smaller competitors.
Greg Mesch, the CEO, told reporters, “CityFibre is key to the consolidation in this sector.”
In addition, he said that the money would speed up the rate at which it could add clients to its network. “We’re already at 50,000 orders a month now,” he stated.
After BT and Virgin Media O2, CityFibre has constructed the third-largest broadband network in Britain.
It sells fiber connections through retail providers like TalkTalk, Vodafone, and its most recent client, Sky.
In addition to a 960 million pound expansion of its debt facilities, the funding includes 500 million pounds in equity from shareholders Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Antin Infrastructure Partners, Mubadala Investment Company, and Interogo Holding.
As it promotes consolidation, CityFibre has also announced its commitment to an additional 800 million lending facility to finance acquisitions.
The company announced its first full year of profit in 2024 and plans to grow its wholesale network to over 8 million locations.
According to Simon Holden, Group Chief Operating Officer, CityFibre could swiftly integrate any network it bought and provide its clients with access to its footprint.
“We don’t see any particular hurdles with basically all of the assets that we think are available in the UK today,” he stated. “Bigger is probably better on balance; we are trying to scale up quickly.”
