Member Article

£75m investment boosts WIG’s £1bn UK telecoms infrastructure plan

Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG) has secured a £75m investment from as it looks to substantially upscale its operations.

WIG is an independent communications infrastructure provider, headquartered in Bellshill, Scotland.

The Company builds and operates communication towers (masts) in rural and suburban areas together with fibre based networks to improve mobile coverage in large buildings and on city streets.

The business, which is fully independent of any network operator, announced plans in January to invest a further £1 billion in UK infrastructure.

The investment is part of a strategy to substantially scale up the firm. Completion of the transaction is conditional only upon receiving clearance from the European Commission under EU Merger Regulations which is anticipated by the end of June 2016.

Scott Coates, CEO of Wireless infrastructure Group, explained: “We are delighted to welcome 3i Infrastructure as a financial partner at a key moment in the Company’s development.

“Bringing an established European infrastructure investor on board alongside our existing North American partner provides us with the financial capabilities needed to scale up our business through investment in up to £1 billion of new infrastructure.

“This will transform our ability to support our customers as they extend network coverage in rural areas and improve capacity in urban centres.”

“3i infrastructure will provide us with additional long term capital and a partner to enable us to scale up our UK infrastructure footprint and also expand our presence in Western Europe.

“Independent infrastructure companies like WIG provide a conduit for long term infrastructure investors to support the telecoms industry as it takes on the challenges of expanding the quality and reach of connectivity.”

“The case for independent ownership of upstream broadband infrastructure such as masts and fibre is an increasingly compelling one.

“In the mobile sector, independently operated infrastructure enables better connectivity, attracts new sources of investment and promotes infrastructure competition in a consolidating telecoms market.”

Ben Loomes, Managing Partner and Co-head of Infrastructure, 3i Investments plc said: “We are delighted to be backing an industry leading platform at a pivotal time for the European independent tower sector.

“We have been impressed by the Company’s focus on high quality shared infrastructure and its experienced management team. We look forward to supporting the Company’s plans to expand its infrastructure base both here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe”.

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