HICL Infra makes first foray into broadband

HICL Infrastructure said it said it had made its first fibre broadband investment after buying a 55% shareholding in France's ADTIM from DIF Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

ADTIM will represent approximately 2% of HICL's portfolio, by value, HICL said on Thursday.

The company is an independent wholesale fibre network providing low density rural areas in the South of France with 18,300km of fibre-to-the-home ("FTTH") broadband infrastructure.

Procured under France's 2012 Ultra-Fast Broadband Plan, ADTIM is the sole wholesale provider of the subsidised rural network.

"This essential infrastructure benefits from long-term predictable cash flows and high barriers to entry, placing the asset at the lower end of the infrastructure risk spectrum. The investment is accretive to key portfolio metrics," HICL said