toob, a leading regional fibre network provider, today announces that it has secured more than £160m of additional funding to support the Company’s continued expansion across the South of England and create a financially secure platform to enhance further growth opportunities in the market.

Funds managed by Ares Management’s Infrastructure Debt strategy will commit £160m in debt financing, which is able to be upsized up to £300m over time to support future growth opportunities. Funds managed and advised by the Amber Infrastructure Group (“Amber Infrastructure”), toob’s current shareholder, will also invest significant further equity.

The company, known for its excellent track record of connecting customers, has a base of c.20k customers on its full-fibre network covering c.140k premises across Southampton and other towns in the South of England. This new funding will help support the next phase of toob’s expansion to more than 120k connected customers on a network of over 300k premises.

Now that this funding is secured, toob has the opportunity for further network expansion through organic build or consolidation as the UK fibre market evolves.

Nick Parbutt, CEO, toob, said:

“We are delighted to have the financial support of James and the team at Ares. This complements the backing we have enjoyed from Amber Infrastructure since late 2018. toob has always focused on delivering for our customers through a simple and compelling broadband proposition.

This investment gives us the capital to extend our network to over 300k premises, and most importantly, it secures the business through to profitability as a platform for growth. With this commitment from Ares and Amber, we can develop toob, either through further network build or M&A activity. We are very pleased that the business and our team have an exciting future ahead of us as we deliver for more communities across the South of England.”

James Fox, a Managing Director in Ares’ Infrastructure Debt strategy, said:

“We are pleased to be partnering with the high-quality teams at toob and Amber to support the continued rollout of toob’s full fibre network to towns across the South of England. This funding aims to help bring enhanced connectivity to historically underserved areas. We look forward to working closely with Nick and the toob management team as they enter the next phase in their development.”

Michael Gregory, Head of Asset Management, Amber Infrastructure, said:

“We are delighted to partner with the team at Ares. This further capital is testament to the strength of the management team and their focus on commercialisation and efficient unit capex metrics. We also look forward to evaluating further M&A opportunities with the support of Ares, as the UK fibre market starts to consolidate.”

toob was advised by Lincoln International, Norton Rose Fulbright, PwC, Altman Solon and Deloitte. Ares was advised by Ashurst.