XpFibre, a French fibre business backed by Altice, Canadian pension fund OMERS, German insurer Allianz and French fund manager , has secured 鈧�5.8bn in credit facilities from institutional creditors and infrastructure bank lenders.
OMERS said the financing, which was designed to achieve an investment grade rating from S&P and DBRS, attracted both European and US investors.
The names and specific contributions of the individual investors were not disclosed.
XpFibre is the largest independent fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) operator in France, delivering high-speed internet to approximately 25% of the French territory in terms of homes passed.
Alastair Hall, head of Europe at OMERS Infrastructure, said: 鈥淭his refinancing is a vote of confidence in the strength of XpFibre. As the company鈥檚 rollout phase nears completion, now is the right time to put in place a capital structure that reflects XpFibre鈥檚 highly resilient business model, predictable cash flow and robust financial profile as well as supporting its continued rollout to customers.鈥�
In the latter part of 2018, a consortium led by OMERS Infrastructure, together with Allianz and AXA IM Alts, agreed to buy a 49.99% stake in SFR FTTH, the fibre business of telecoms group Altice France for 鈧�1.8bn.
SFR FTTH was a newly formed company by Altice France which was to hold and further develop Altice France鈥檚 existing FTTH business in France.
Altice France remained a shareholder majority of SFR FTTH, which became XpFibre on 30 March 2021.
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