PMP Strategy advises Cordiant on acquisition of Speed Fibre

30 August 2023 Consultancy.uk

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure has announced an agreement to acquire Irish open access fibre operator Speed Fibre. Professionals from PMP Strategy advised Cordiant on the €97 million deal.

According to Steven Marshall, chair of digital infrastructure at Cordiant Capital, the deal makes Cordiant a “big fish in a small pond” and gives it a “seat at the table to drive further consolidation” in Ireland. Speaking on an analyst call about the acquisition, he said the “complementary fit” opened up a range of opportunities as Ireland renews its telecommunications infrastructure.

“We do have some fibre assets in our other businesses in Europe, but this one is a pure play,” Marshall went on. “We’ll have the opportunity, potentially, to add maybe some tower assets and maybe some data centre capacity to support and be complementary to the fibre network.”

PMP Strategy advises Cordiant on acquisition of Speed Fibre

Speed Fibre has a 5,400-kilometre national backbone network of owned and leased fibre. It also has wireless backhaul, serving carriers, internet service providers, and enterprises. The firm recorded revenue of €80 million in 2022, and the acquisition has a reported total enterprise value of €190.5 million.

Those figures are split across Speed Fibre’s two main business units. Enet is a wholesale fibre and metropolitan area network operator; while Magnet is a retail ISP that mainly serves small-and-medium-size enterprise customers. Enet customers include AT&T, Three, Verizon, and Vodafone.

Previously owned by the state-backed Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF), the sale of Speed Fibre marks the final asset disposal of the IIF’s portfolio. Meanwhile, the move means Cordiant is well positioned in the Irish digital infrastructure – with potential plans to further grow its investments in the sector to complement it fibre assets – potentially, bolstering it with infrastructure like towers or data centre capacity.

The transaction will conclude in the coming two months, with regulatory approval. Cordiant will fund it with €68 million in cash and €29 million through a vendor loan note. Advising Cordiant on the deal was a team of professionals from PMP Strategy. Founded in 2003, the firm works with its clients to help ensure the sustainable operational improvement of organisations, teams and collaborators, and to use strategy to realise the best value for deals.

Commenting on the conclusion of the deal, PMP Partner Ken Campbell stated via LinkedIn, “Congratulations to David Kippen, Joel Ntamirira and the Cordiant Capital team. We at PMP Strategy along with our partners at Broadband Success Partners were pleased to support you on this acquisition of Enet (Open Access Networks) and Magnet+. Thanks to Jay Rolls, David Strauss, Clément Bouvry, Reef Read.”

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