"Liberty Global and Telefónica, alongside InfraVia Capital through their Nexfibre joint venture, will acquire Netomnia, currently the UK's second-largest alternative network provider. The deal will expand Nexfibre's footprint to around 8 million households by the end of next year. Combined with Virgin Media O2's existing infrastructure, the enlarged network will cover approximately 20 million premises and serve about 6.2 million customers."
"That scale brings it close to Openreach, the network arm of BT Group, which has passed just over 21 million premises with full fibre. Shares in BT fell 2.5 per cent following news of the acquisition. Founded in 2019, Netomnia is one of dozens of "altnets" that emerged to challenge the dominance of Openreach and Virgin Media O2. However, many smaller fibre operators have paused expansion amid higher borrowing costs and weaker-than-expected customer take-up."
Liberty Global, Telefónica and InfraVia's Nexfibre will buy Netomnia for £2bn, expanding Nexfibre's footprint to around eight million households by the end of next year. Combined with Virgin Media O2 infrastructure, the enlarged network will cover approximately 20 million premises and serve about 6.2 million customers, approaching Openreach's just-over-21-million full-fibre reach. The acquisition followed competition with CityFibre and will be financed with £850m equity from InfraVia, £150m from Liberty Global and Telefónica, plus a £2.7bn debt facility to fund the purchase and further network expansion. Many smaller alternative fibre operators have paused expansion amid higher borrowing costs and weaker customer take-up.
Read at Business Matters
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