Digital 9 Infrastructure, which invests in digital infrastructure assets, has now completed its first acquisition, of 100 per cent of Aqua Comms DAC for cGBP160 million.
Aqua Comms owns and operates some 14,300km of 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 a London Stock Exchange listed investment trust, (LN:DGI9) 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 per cent cash covered, with the first dividend of 1.5p to be paid in respect of the quarter ending 30 June 2021.
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 GBP200 million, two of which investments have already been considered by the Triple Point investment committee and one is under active negotiation. The Investment Manager looks forward to providing more detail on these opportunities in due course.
Thor Johnsen, Head of Digital Infrastructure at Triple Point Investment Management LLP, says: ”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.”
