Cornish Wildanet attracts £35m investment from UKIB, days after the bank ploughed £150m into Hyperoptic.
Southwest fibre altnet Wildanet has become the latest UK challenger to attract investment from UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB), and has secured a revolving credit facility from Santander to boot.
UKIB’s £35m infusion will support Wildanet’ government-subsidised builds under the Project Gigabit scheme.
UKIB Chief Executive John Flint added that the financing will support the FibreCo’s efforts to connect rural areas that “otherwise miss out on the benefits” of improved connectivity.
No further detail has been offered regarding the Santander RCF.
Big-name backers…
Wildanet CEO Helen Wylde-Archibald used the investment announcement to highlight Wildanet’s success in forging “strong partnerships with both national and local government, with institutional investors and banks”.
Although wholly owned by the Treasury, UKIB is operationally independent from the government and works to identify investment targets for deals worth up to £1bn. Since launching in 2021 it has made a series of substantial investments in UK fibre projects, Wildanet being the latest. Just last week Hyperoptic earned a £150m funding package from the bank.
