Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF) and Unidata S.p.A. will invest in a high-quality fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), open-access network for residential and business users in Lazio region in Italy.
The network will cover over 100,000 households and 5,000 businesses for a total investment of EUR 40 million.
This investment marks the first project for the CEBF in Italy.
Over the coming years CEBF and Unidata S.p.A. are committed to invest EUR 18.5 million into the project company Unifiber. Upon the occurrence of certain conditions, CEBF will be able to make further contributions in Unifiber up to a total of EUR 30 million.
Connecting Europe Broadband Fund (CEBF) and Unidata S.p.A. (Unidata) today announced the agreement to invest in a high-quality fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), open-access network for residential and business users in Lazio region of Italy, which will cover over 100,000 households and 5,000 businesses. This investment marks the first project for CEBF in Italy.
Italy, Europe’s 4th largest economy, has a fiber coverage at c. 30% (EU28 average c. 40%). This project addresses the strategic needs for the Lazio region to provide access to Lazio’s households and businesses to fast, reliable and high bandwidth infrastructure. The target is to create a first class, sizable and neutral open access network highly attractive to the internet Service Providers and the final end users.
According to the agreement, CEBF will own 70% and Unidata will own 30% of Unifiber the project company that will be set up in the coming weeks in Italy. Unidata will be in charge of managing Unifiber through a neutrally selected management team. CEBF will monitor the operation and assist in expansion and efficient financing through its experience developed through its other investments in Europe.
Renaud de Matharel, CEO and Managing Partner of Cube Infrastructure Managers, said: “We are pleased to announce our first deal with our Connecting Europe Broadband Fund in Italy. This transaction is fully in line with our vision to create regional telecommunication infrastructure powerhouses to foster high quality and open access broadband networks in Europe. This project will ensure seamless access to necessary infrastructure for all service providers, which will generate increased productivity for end users in the region. Looking ahead we plan to continue to expand our partnership with Unidata S.p.A., which brings extensive local know how with top notch management. This is another successfully signed project following transactions in Croatia, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Spain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.”
Renato Brunetti, Chairman of Unidata S.p.A., said: “We have put together all the necessary ingredients with CEBF to create a leading infrastructure enterprise in Italy. Unidata now has a consolidated know-how in creating value through investments in telecommunications infrastructure and we are excited to take on this challenge with CEBF, which will allow us to maintain our commitment to providing a premium level service to our customers.”
CEBF is an infrastructure fund focusing on investing in greenfield and expansion projects in the broadband infrastructure space across Europe with €470 million of committed capital and a target size of €500-600 million. The deployment of new generation fibre networks is allowing people and corporations to access significantly higher speeds for uploading and downloading data, coping with the explosion of IP traffic. The project is another successfully signed project for the CEBF, the closing of the transaction is expected to take place in Q3, 2020.
CEBF is managed by Cube Infrastructure Managers (Cube IM) and anchored by the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the German KfW Bankengruppe, the Italian Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and France’s Caisse des Dépôts et consignations (CDC) alongside European private investors.
About Cube Infrastructure Managers:
Founded in 2007, Cube Infrastructure Managers is an independent management company, focusing on investments in the European infrastructure space addressing the essential infrastructure needs of local public authorities and populations, and fully consistent with its ESG commitments. Cube Infrastructure Managers has raised an aggregate €2.6 billion and manages three funds. Cube Infrastructure Fund and Cube Infrastructure Fund II are focusing on investments in regulated, brownfield infrastructure and target mainly three strategic markets, Public Transport, Energy Transition and Communication Infrastructure, with a “Buy & Grow” strategy. The Connecting Europe Broadband Fund is a fund dedicated to investment in broadband infrastructure projects.
Media Contact:
Cube Infrastructure Managers
Caroline Kragerud, Head of Investor Relations
+352 248 734 6874
Brunswick Group
Agnès Catineau, Xavier Mas
+33 (0) 1 53 96 83 83
Projects should be referred to CEBF@cubeim.com or +352 248 734 68 00