The acquisition significantly enhances CityFibre’s metropolitan footprint and positions CityFibre as a national infrastructure alternative to incumbent offerings. The acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover under Rule 14 of the AIM Rules for Companies and is therefore subject to shareholder approval. Olswang also advised CityFibre on:
• The underwritten placing raising ?80 million;
• The preparation of an AIM Admission Document that was published in connection with the reverse takeover;
• A network access and maintenance agreement entered into between CityFibre and KCOM which governs KCOM’s continued use of the network assets for both ‘on-net’ customer usage and further potential fibre connectivity; and
• CityFibre’s new ?100million debt facility.
Olswang has acted for CityFibre since its launch in January 2011 and advised on its admission to trading on AIM in January 2014, its partnership with Sky and TalkTalk to create a new company that will deliver ultra-fast broadband services in the City of York and its over-subscribed ?30million fundraising in June 2014.
Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer of CityFibre commented: “This deal marks a significant change in the UK’s digital infrastructure market, and we were glad to have Olswang’s advice along the way. We’ve had the good fortune to be guided by the firm since CityFibre was founded, and as always, Paul Blackmore and his team provided expert legal advice and helped to see this deal to fruition. We look forward to working with them again in the future”.
Paul Blackmore, Olswang Corporate Partner commented: “It was a pleasure to advise CityFibre on this deal that will pave the way for the business to continue to provide the UK market with ‘future-proof’ fibre optic infrastructure. We anticipate that this deal will bring significant benefits to CityFibre and its expanding network, and we are keen to strengthen our relationship with them in the years to come”.
