Digital 9 Infrastr. - Completion of Acquisition and Total Voting Rights

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC

01/04/2021 07:00

RNS Number : 2168U

Digital 9 Infrastructure PLC

01 April 2021

 

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 1 April 2021

DIGITAL 9 INFRASTRUCTURE PLC

("D9" or the "Company")

 

Completion of Acquisition

Total Voting Rights

D9 is pleased to announce that it has now completed the acquisition of 100% of Aqua Comms DAC ("Aqua Comms") for c.£160m, a platform owning and operating some 14,300km of the most reliable and resilient trans-Atlantic sub-sea fibre systems - representing the very "backbone" of the internet.

 

Aqua Comms' assets are established, fully operational, and benefit from a long established customer base, particularly comprising the FAANGs, and other global content providers.  D9's investment manager, Triple Point Investment Management LLP ("Triple Point" or the "Investment Manager") believes the platform has in-built further growth potential.

 

D9 is targeting an initial annualised 6p dividend yield (by reference to the issue price of 100p on IPO) for the first financial year.  Following this acquisition, the Investment Manager now expects that this first year dividend will be over 100% cash covered, with the first dividend of 1.5p to be paid in respect of the quarter ending 30 June 2021.1

 

The Board of D9 is also pleased to note that Aqua Ventures Limited ("AVL") and Black Forest Funding (Ireland) Designated Activity Company ("Black Forest") have been issued a total of 32,988,339  Ordinary Shares, at an issue price of 100p per share, in part and full payment, respectively, of the consideration payable to AVL and Black Forest for the acquisition of Aqua Comms.2

 

Further details regarding the acquisition of Aqua Comms are set out in the prospectus published by the Company on 8 March 2021 (the "Prospectus").

 

Finally, the Investment Manager is making positive progress on its pipeline of other investment opportunities as identified in the Prospectus, with three further potential investments, comprising two data centres assets and a terrestrial fibre platform with an aggregate initial investment value of over £200m, two of which investments have already been considered by the Triple Point investment committee and one is under active negotiation.3  The Investment Manager looks forward to providing more detail on these opportunities in due course.

 

Notes:

 

1 - The dividend and return targets stated above are Sterling denominated returns targets only and not a profit forecast. There can be no assurance that these targets will be met and they should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected future results. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance on these targets in deciding whether or not to invest in the Company and should decide for themselves whether or not the target dividend and target net total accounting return are reasonable or achievable.

 

2 - Application has been made for such Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading, and dealings will commence, on the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange at 8.00 a.m. today.

 

3 - The acquisition of further investments by the Company is subject to, inter alia, satisfactory due diligence, agreement of terms and the Company having sufficient cash to make such investments.

 

Thor Johnsen, Head of Digital Infrastructure at Triple Point Investment Management LLP, said:

 

" The acquisition of Aqua Comms represents a significant first step for D9. We believe that the investment has been made at an attractive valuation compared to recent similar transactions in the market. In addition, there are further major fibre systems and developments not reflected in the historical financials or historical valuation metrics. We also believe this cornerstone investment positions D9 well to make synergistic acquisitions in other areas in digital infrastructure, particularly acquisitions in alignment with our global network driven data centre strategy.

 

We look forward to updating the market in due course on further developments within Aqua Comms and in respect of new investments from our significant pipeline of opportunities."

 

Total Voting Rights

 

Following admission of Ordinary Shares today, the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue will be 300,000,000, each with equal voting rights. This total voting rights figure can be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority. 

 

Terms used in this announcement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, bear the meanings given to them in the Prospectus.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Triple Point Investment Management LLP
Thor Johnsen / Andre Karihaloo
Via KL Communications
J.P. Morgan Cazenove
William Simmonds / Jérémie Birnbaum (Corporate Finance)
 James Bouverat / Liam MacDonald-Raggett (Sales)
+44 (0) 207 742 4000
Akur Capital
Tom Frost / Anthony Richardson / Siobhan Sergeant
+44 (0) 207 493 3631
KL Communications (PR)
Charles Gorman / Luke Dampier / Samuel Collins-Charles
Digital9@kl-communications.com
+44 (0) 203 995 6673

LEI: 213800OQLX64UNS38U92

NOTES:

 

About the Company

 

Digital 9 Infrastructure plc is a newly established, externally managed investment trust which will invest 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 US$1.9 billion of infrastructure investments and, in addition, will benefit 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.

 

About Aqua Comms

 

Aqua Comms DAC ("Aqua Comms") is one of the largest independent subsea fibre network operators with global services and a core network position in the North Atlantic.  

 

For more information, please visit www.aquacomms.com

 

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