Bigblu Broadband disposes of holding in Quickline

Bigblu Broadband announced on Friday that it had satisfied all conditions relating to the disposal of its holding in Quickline to funds managed by Northleaf Capital Partners, with the disposal completed on 10 June.

The AIM-traded firm said the transaction valued its shareholding in Quickline at up to £48.6m, equivalent to around 84p per Bigblu ordinary share.

Total cash consideration would be up to £41.1m, of which £31.1m gross had now been received, with a further £10.1m expected as deferred contingent consideration, subject to certain performance conditions being met by 31 March 2022.

Another £5.6m was being satisfied in loan notes on completion, with an option to partially convert to equity, and an additional award of notes of up to £1.8m would subject to the conditions of the deferred contingent consideration also being met.

Should the above options be exercised, Bigblu said it would have an 8% stake in the ongoing business.

The board said it would now review the steps needed to return any surplus cash to shareholders within the current financial year.

“We are delighted to have completed the transaction, which provides a significant return on investment and strengthens our balance sheet at the same time as further validating the value proposition of our buy and build strategy,” said chief executive officer Andrew Walwyn.

At 1507 BST, shares in Bigblu Broadband were down 1.04% at 113.8p.