HCR supports deal delivering fibre broadband to 500,000 properties

Tim Ward, head of HCR’s corporate team in Cheltenham, acted for Full Fibre in its new financing deal with Basalt Infrastructure Partners III to deliver wholesale gigabit services, primarily across the West Midlands, Central and South West, to half a million more properties by 2025.

The business will continue its focus on ‘forgotten’ market towns and areas that might otherwise be left behind by the national FTTP rollout. This investment will augment and scale Full Fibre’s existing build capacity and is set to expand its lightning-fast, gigabit fibre optic network to the first 100,000 premises in 2021 and at least 500,000 by 2025, supporting the growth in flexible working and remote learning.

Full Fibre, based in the South West, concentrate on working with a growing number of retail broadband providers to deliver transformative gigabit connectivity across previously underserved market towns, whereas most other providers look to sell their services directly to consumers which can restrict consumer choice and competition.

Tim said: “This is a major step forward at a time when fast broadband is increasingly important to both employees and students, often in areas where the service has traditionally been poor. Full Fibre have been a client for some time, and I was very pleased to be able to support their development with this transaction.”

Full Fibre CEO Oliver Helm said: “We are delighted to have secured this deal with Basalt that will enable us to invest millions of pounds into much needed, new fibre infrastructure. As with any complex deal, securing comprehensive but practical legal advice was vital to achieving a successful agreement.  HCR have been invaluable in advising us throughout the process and providing the specialist knowledge and risk analysis we required. We look forward to continuing to work with them as we deliver our transformative gigabit networks.”

Full Fibre will announce the first wave of towns early in 2021.

Harrison Clark Rickerbys has more than 500 staff and partners based at offices in Cheltenham, Birmingham, Worcester, Hereford, the Wye Valley, Reading, London, Cambridge and Cardiff, who provide a complete spectrum of legal services to both business and private clients, regionally and nationwide. The firm also has a number of highly successful teams specialising in individual market sectors, including health and social care, education, technology, agricultural and rural affairs, finance and financial services, defence, security and the forces, and construction.