Latham Advises XpFibre on Its €5.8 Billion Debt Refinancing

Latham & Watkins has advised XpFibre, the largest independent Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) infrastructure operator in France and its shareholders Altice, OMERS, Allianz, and AXA, on XpFibre’s €5.8 billion debt refinancing. The financing, which has been documented under a new common terms secured debt platform, includes bank facilities, institutional private placement notes across a range of tenors, a capex facility to support the end of the roll-out, and a bridge-to-private placement. XpFibre has now successfully priced and signed an inaugural €1.2 billion US and European private placement which will substantially refinance the bridge. The term bank debt and private placement notes are expected to be rated investment grade by each of S&P and DBRS upon the issue of the private placement notes later in November.

The deal represents one of the largest European digital infrastructure financing transactions to date, and is a landmark transaction for the European fibre infrastructure market representing a fundamental shift towards a more utility-like infrastructure platform financing, reflecting the mature nature of XpFibre’s business, the long-term nature of its contracted revenues, and the supportive regulatory framework.

The Latham team was led by London finance partners Steve Curtis and Conrad Andersen, with Paris counsel Etienne Gentil and London associates Martin Corrigan, Rahman Amusan, and Lothar Krumpen, and Paris associates Aurelien Lorenzi and Bruna Neiva Cardante.