Macquarie Capital to acquire fibre broadband network

Macquarie Capital to acquire fibre broadband network in move to create Spain’s first independent wholesale bitstream operator

• Macquarie Capital acted as sponsor, lead equity investor, sole debt arranger and sole financial advisor in the acquisition of a Fibre-to-the-Home network covering c. 940,000 units from MasMovil, Spain’s fourth largest telecoms operator
• Aberdeen Standard Investments will be a co-investor in the project alongside Macquarie Capital
• The network will become the first independent wholesale bitstream operator in Spain – selling broadband access to internet service providers and other wholesale customers
• The CEO of the new entity will be Jose Antonio Vazquez Blanco, with more than 18 years’ experience working in the Spanish telecom market

London, 06 November 2019

Macquarie Capital, the arm of Macquarie Group (Macquarie) specialised in project development and construction across the infrastructure and energy sectors, and Aberdeen Standard Investments (Aberdeen) have today announced that they have signed an agreement with MasMovil Broadband, S.A.U. and MasMovil Ibercom, S.A. (jointly MasMovil) to acquire a c. 940,000 building units Fibre-to-the-Home network in Spain. MasMovil is Spain’s fourth largest telecoms operator.

The network currently provides bitstream1 services across five of Spain’s largest cities and their metropolitan areas, in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Malaga. MasMovil, with its strong client base in the network, will be the first major customer of the network.

The new business will operate as an independent wholesaler providing capacity to internet service providers (ISPs) looking to supply broadband to homes and businesses initially in these five cities and their metropolitan areas. MasMovil have signed a long term agreement outlining a minimum volume commitment with the new network as part of the sale of the network.

Currently, the fibre optic network deployed in Spain is the widest in Europe, covering more than 75 per cent of the population2. However, around 89 per cent of fixed broadband lines are currently provided by just three main operators3.

This new wholesale network will create an alternative source of fibre capacity for large operators with no infrastructure in the areas covered by the network and smaller broadband businesses. This should enable these challenger ISPs to reach more customers, increasing competition and price transparency in the Spanish market.

 

(1) https://www.expansion.com/empresas/tecnologia/2019/11/06/

(2) https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2019/11/06/