A giant American infrastructure fund is placing a bet on growing demand for high-speed internet services among Britain’s student population by striking a deal to buy a leading player in the sector.
Sky News has learnt that Connecticut-based Alinda Capital Partners has agreed to buy Glide Group, which provides fibre broadband to approximately 700 student halls of residence around the country.
Sources said the deal, which is expected to be announced this week, was an early signal of international investors’ willingness to put money to work in the UK, even as the economy braces for a protracted period of turbulence because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Tim Pilcher is the chief executive of Glide
It is understood to value Glide at somewhere in the region of £200m.
Ares, the specialist lender, is understood to have agreed to help finance the takeover by Alinda, which counts a stake in London’s Heathrow Airport among its portfolio of investments.
Glide, which is run by chief executive Tim Pilcher, also supplies fast broadband to build-to-rent apartment buildings and about 600 business parks around the UK.
The company is a leader in the use of BT Group’s duct infrastructure to provide communications services.
Glide, which previously traded as CableCom, was bought by Inflexion in 2013.
It also operates in European countries including Ireland, Italy and Spain.
One source close to the lenders described it as “a very good outcome” for Inflexion in the current environment.
The deal comes at a time of significant corporate activity among fast-fibre broadband providers, with TalkTalk having sold its FibreNation arm to CityFibre Holdings and a number of other operators seeking investment.
Inflexion could not be reached for comment on Monday morning.
