Dutch cable and fibre infrastructure joint venture, Cogas Kabel Infra, has secured €88m (US$116m) in financing from locally-based insurers Delta Lloyd and ASR as well as Rabobank Rotterdam.
Speaking on behalf of Cogas Kabel Infra, a JV between utility…
Dutch cable and fibre infrastructure joint venture, Cogas Kabel Infra, has secured €88m (US$116m) in financing from locally-based insurers Delta Lloyd and ASR as well as Rabobank Rotterdam.
Speaking on behalf of Cogas Kabel Infra, a JV between utility company Cogas and Rabo Bouwfonds’ Communication Infrastructure Fund (CIF), CIF managing partner Randolf Nijsse said the financing will be put toward deploying a high-speed fibre network to about 90,000 homes in Twente, a region in the eastern Netherlands.
Nijsse said the deal proves private funding of fibre infrastructure in The Netherlands is possible.
Announced in July, the JV received the green light from competition regulator NMa in September.
CIF, part of Rabobank’s Bouwfonds REIM, has acquired numerous cablecos, including CAIW, Krimpen a/d Ijssel, Loenen a/d Vecht, CAI IJsselstein, CAI Albrandswaard, KBG, CAI Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, SCAI Borculo and, most recently, CAS Hilvarenbeek.
A spokesperson for CIF said the fund benefits from being able to invest Dutch pension fund money into its mobile infrastructure networks. He added that the fund could approach the insurance companies directly, regarding the infrastructure as a low-risk, long-term investment.