31 December
2024
DIGITAL 9 INFRASTRUCTURE
PLC
("D9" or
the "Company" and, together with its subsidiaries, the
"Group")
Divestment of interests in
EMIC-1 for $42m (c. £33m)
The Board is pleased to announce
that D9 has entered into a binding agreement for the divestment of
its interests in EMIC-1 (the "Project"), with completion expected
by March 2025.
The $42m consideration, which is net
of $2.6m of transaction costs, represents a 15% discount
(approximately 0.7p per share) to the latest valuation of $49.6m as
at 30 June 2024. The Project continues to
be impacted by ongoing conflicts in the Red Sea area, which have
led to an indefinite delay to its final construction completion.
The transaction also releases the Group from $10m of additional
construction commitments.
Transaction costs are predominantly
an allocation of substantial fees payable on the completion of the
divestment of the Company's Subsea cable assets, which were
committed to at the commencement of the sales process in early
2024. These fees will become payable following the completion of a
sale of AquaComms.
The net proceeds will allow the
Company to further deleverage its balance sheet by reducing the
Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") balance of £53m. The Company is
discussing options with the RCF lenders, to extend the remaining
balance of the RCF beyond the current maturity date of 31 March
2025. The remaining balance of the RCF is expected to be
repaid through proceeds from other live sale initiatives that are
progressing in parallel.
The Company is also in advanced
discussions on the sale of the remainder of the subsea cable
business, AquaComms, and expects to report on further progress in
due course. The valuation process has commenced in respect of the
wider investment portfolio for the year ending 31 December 2024.
InfraRed and the Board look forward to further engagement with
shareholders as part of a roadshow in early 2025.
Eric Sanderson, Chairman of Digital
9 Infrastructure plc, commented: "The sale of
EMIC-1 represents a key milestone for
progressing the wind-down of the Company and deleveraging the
balance sheet, on behalf of
shareholders, achieving what the Board
believes is an acceptable value outcome in a challenging
environment. We remain focused on taking every action possible to
realise shareholder value over time, seeking to achieve a balance
between maximizing the value from our assets and making timely
capital returns to shareholders."
ENDS.
Contacts
Digital 9 Infrastructure plc
Eric Sanderson
|
via FTI Consulting
|
InfraRed Capital Partners Limited
James O'Halloran
Mohammed Zaheer
|
+44 (0) 207 484
1751
|
Panmure Liberum Limited (Financial Adviser)
Chris Clarke
Darren Vickers
|
+44 (0) 203 100
2222
|
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Corporate Broker)
William Simmonds
Jérémie Birnbaum
|
+44 (0) 20 7742
4000
|
FTI
Consulting (Communications Adviser)
Mitch Barltrop
Maxime Lopes
|
dgi9@fticonsulting.com
+44 (0)
7807 296 032
+44 (0)
7890 896 777
|
LEI Code: 213800OQLX64UNS38U92
About Digital 9 Infrastructure
plc
Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (DGI9)
is an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange and a
constituent of the FTSE All-Share, with the ticker DGI9. The
Company's investment objective is to undertake a Managed wind-down
of the Company and realise all existing assets in the Company's
portfolio in an orderly manner. For more information, please
visit www.d9infrastructure.com.