The Fund has invested over €10 million in two medium-sized local telecommunications operators in Spain. Both are located in the province of Cádiz: Wifi Sancti Petri has an FTTH network reaching 60,000 homes, while Airwifi has 22,000 homes connected to its FTTH network. Both companies own their fiber optic networks, provide both broadband and mobile services, and have the potential to serve a total population of over 110,000 people in the surrounding municipalities.
These two transactions represent PATRIZIA's sixth investment in EIF II, bringing the Fund's total investments and co-investments to over €800 million. Furthermore, these are the first transactions in Spain for the EIF II fund series, thus diversifying its geographic reach and strengthening its digital presence, which includes the British broadband operator Connexin.
Matteo Andreoletti, Head of Infrastructure Capital for Europe and North America at PATRIZIA, stated, “The enormous demand for digitalization and smart cities worldwide is accelerating daily, but smaller towns and cities have a vital role to play in this transition. With these strategic investments, we have entered the €1.5 billion Spanish local telecommunications market, which offers an exciting opportunity to generate value and attractive returns for our investors by consolidating a highly fragmented market. We will leverage our extensive experience in growing mid-sized digital infrastructure companies to make our new fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) platform a comprehensive player in the Spanish local broadband market.”
Wifi Sancti Petri and Airwifi are the first two companies to join Localcom, the newly launched FTTH platform by PATRIZIA Infrastructure. The new platform aims to bring reliable, high-speed broadband services to towns and cities throughout Spain, improving residents' quality of life and reducing the digital divide between urban and rural areas. PATRIZIA Infrastructure will also identify a portfolio of additional operators to acquire for the platform, which will be overseen by two managers with a combined 50 years of experience in the Spanish telecommunications sector.
PATRIZIA Infrastructure will also deploy an active asset management strategy to drive platform growth. It will collaborate closely with operators to integrate their existing business models and identify key synergies within each company, particularly around network architecture, facilities, customer service, sales, and marketing.
In the words of Eduardo de Roda, Country Manager of PATRIZIA in Iberia, "the improvement of digital infrastructure throughout Spain has strong government support, as broadband connectivity in the country's more rural areas is a key objective for both the Spanish and European governments. With these strategic operations, we are pleased to expand our infrastructure presence in Spain and continue growing our €2 billion real asset portfolio in this country."
