Independent US cable operator Seaborn Networks has completed its US$500m project financing for Seabras-1 – a new subsea fibre optic cable system connecting New York City and São Paulo in Brazil. Telecom Italia’s TI Sparkle also plans to invest US$300m in the project.
Independent US cable operator Seaborn Networks has completed its US$500m project financing for Seabras-1 – a new subsea fibre optic cable system connecting New York City and São Paulo in Brazil.
Seabras-1, jointly owned by Seaborn and Switzerland-based investment management firm Partners Group (SIX:PGHN), is the first system to provide a direct point-to-point route between the two financial centres. It also includes branching units pointing towards Halifax in Canada, Ashburn, Miami and St Croix in the US, Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Las Toninas in Argentina.
Partners Group provided the US$230m in equity financing for the project, while Seaborn contributed development capital. Natixis, Banco Santander, Commerzbank and Int
Natixis was mandated as the sole structuring bank, underwriter, lead arranger and Coface as facility agent for the transaction.
Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks, now part of Finland’s Nokia, began construction on Seabras-1 in September 2014 and the system is expected to be operational in Q2 2017. Seaborn said dark fibre backhaul and metro routes at each end of the system have now been fully secured.
According to Seaborn, Seabras-1 represents the first ever export credit agency-backed project financing of a subsea cable system.
Partners Group managing director Todd Bright described it as “a key telecommunications infrastructure project for the Americas [which] will bring tangible benefits to businesses and individuals in Brazil and neighbouring countries”.
Seaborn chairman and CEO Larry Schwartz commented: “As global telecommunications demands continue to grow, we are determined to offer the most compelling range of alternatives for purchasers of international broadband capacity.”
Seaborn said Seabras-1 uses next-generation technology to deliver high-capacity, low-latency telecommunications for one of the fastest-growing transoceanic routes worldwide.
TI Sparkle to invest US$300m
Meanwhile, Telecom Italia’s international services arm, TI Sparkle, has announced a long-term investment of more than US$300m in Seabras-1.
TI Sparkle CEO Alessandro Talotta noted that the commitment marks one of its largest ever one-off infrastructure investments.
“We are witnessing a surge of high capacity deals and with this latest investment we are fully able to cater to this new demand, typically coming from OTTs and content providers”, he added.
