Slaughter and May advised UK Infrastructure Bank as cornerstone lender to CityFibre’s £4.9bn financing programme to support the roll out of full fibre broadband to 8m UK homes

Slaughter and May advised UK Infrastructure Bank in relation to its £200 million debt investment as a cornerstone lender in the largest digital debt transaction in the UK market. UK Infrastructure Bank is a British state-owned policy bank which was launched in June 2021 to invest in infrastructure projects, help tackle climate change and boost regional and local economic growth across the United Kingdom. The funds will be used by CityFibre (UK’s largest independent full fibre infrastructure platform) towards its aim of providing fast, affordable and reliable broadband to 285 towns and cities across England and Scotland by 2025.

The deal, which is worth £4.9 billion in total (£3.9 billion in financing plus £1 billion of uncommitted accordion), supports a programme which marks a step-change in the acceleration of full fibre broadband across the UK to meet Government targets. As a cornerstone lender in the transaction, the UK Infrastructure Bank’s involvement has helped underpin the largest debt raise seen in the UK digital market to date.

Slaughter and May worked with UK Infrastructure Bank’s internal legal and business teams.