Latham Advises Gigaclear on £1.5 Billion Debt Facility

Latham & Watkins has advised Gigaclear, the UK’s largest rural alternative network provider of full fibre broadband, on its new debt platform. The initial facilities are split between committed facilities of c.£1 billion and an uncommitted accordion of c.£500 million, with debt provided by a consortium of banks comprising ABN AMRO, Credit Industriel et Commercial, HSBC, KommunalKredit, LBBW, Lloyds, NatWest, NAB, NIBC, and SEB.

The transaction is the first to benefit from the UK Infrastructure Bank’s Guarantee Scheme, guaranteeing £240 million of commitments.

The facilities will be used to accelerate Gigaclear’s long-term plans to provide service to more than a million rural premises by 2027.

The Latham team was led by London infrastructure partners Conrad Andersen and Seonaid Todisco, with associate Laura Elliott.