Patrizia grows Spanish FTTH footprint with two acquisitions

Oct 26, 2023

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Specialist infrastructure investment firm, Patrizia, has strengthened its European footprint by acquiring two Spanish broadband and fibre operators via its European Infrastructure Fund II (EIFII).

With these latest investments, the company will launch a new FTTH platform in Spain, with the aim of bringing high-speed broadband services to villages and towns, narrowing the digital divide between the country's urban and rural areas. Patrizia Infrastructure will identify a pipeline of additional operators to acquire for the platform, which will be overseen by two managers who have a combined 50 years of experience in the Spanish telecoms sector.

The two acquired firms are both mid-market operators in Spain's local telecoms sector. Both are located in the southern province of Cadiz. Wifi Sancti Petri's FTTH network can reach 60,000 homes, while Airwifi can connect 22,000 homes to its FTTH network. The two companies own their fibre networks and provide both broadband and mobile services, which have the potential to serve a total population over 110,000 people across neighbouring municipalities.

The two deals are the sixth platform investment for EIFII, taking the fund's committed investments and co-investments to more than EUR 800 million. They also mark the first deals in Spain for the EIF fund series, diversifying its geographies and strengthening its digital footprint, which includes UK-based broadband operator Connexin.

Matteo Andreoletti, Head of Infrastructure Equity, Europe and North America, at Patrizia says: "With these strategic investments, we have entered Spain's €1.5bn local telecoms market, which provides a hugely exciting opportunity to generate value and attractive returns for our investors by consolidating a highly fragmented market. We will leverage all of our experience in growing mid-market digital infrastructure companies to scale our new FTTH platform into an integral player in Spain's local broadband market."

Eduardo de Roda, Patrizia Country Head for Spain, adds: "Enhancing digital infrastructure right across Spain has strong government backing, as broadband connectivity in the country's most rural areas is a key objective for both the Spanish and European governments. With these strategic deals, we are excited to expand our infrastructure footprint in Spain and continue the growth of our €2bn real assets portfolio here."