Tuesday 26 April 2022

Here we go again!

'What's this, boss?'

It's a PR email from Vauban.

'Oh dear.'

Ha!

Never mind.

Anyway ...

Bouygues Telecom and Vauban Infrastructure Partners announce the closing of a new strategic agreement to further accelerate the optical fiber deployment in France, in medium dense areas (AMII/AMEL) and less dense area (RIP).

Rest in peace?!?! I'm sure it's not that bad!

Vauban Infrastructure Partners ("Vauban"), through its digital investment platform Vauban Infra Fibre ("VIF"), and Bouygues Telecom are pleased to announce today that all documentation required to the execution of the strategic agreement announced earlier this year was signed on April 6, 2022. This project will enable to finance the access to approximately 20 million FTTH premises by 2027, including 4 million in medium-density areas and 16 million in low-density areas.

Will enable to finance? Fair enough. 'Was that Lucky?' We haven't got to Lucky yet, Voice.

VIF will be the majority shareholder of the newly created company dedicated to -

No, forget all that.

Here is the great man himself!!! -

Paris April 25   th20  22  Bouygues Telecom and Vauban Infrastructure Partners announce the closing of a new strategic agreement to further accelerate the optical fiber deployment in France in medium        dense areas AMIIAMEL and less dense area    RIP Vauban  Infrastructure  Partners  "Vauban!!!"  through  its  digital  investment  platform  Vauban  Infra  Fibre    "VIF"!!!   and Bouygues       Telecom are pleased to announce today that all documentation required to the execution of the strategic agreement announced earlier this year was signed on April 62   0     22 this      project will enable to finance the access to approximately 20 million FTTH premises by 2027 including 4 million in medium   density areas and 16 million in low    density    areas   VIF  will  be  the  majority  shareholder  of  the  newly  created  company  dedicated  to  the  project  SDFAST    Société de Développement de la Fibre Au Service        des Territoires the purpose    of SDFAST is to acquire long      term access    rights IRU      to FTTH lines from infrastructure operators the company will contribute to the co     financing of optical      fiber deployment in France it will provide FTTH line access services to Bouygues Telecom these services will also be offered to third     party operators with this     new operation Bouygues Telecom secures its FTTH access across all French territories     very dense!!!      area AMII AMEL and RIP in parallel VIF is strengthening its presence in RIP and AMII areas   this  partnership  strengthens  the  collaboration  between  Bouygues  Telecom  and  Vauban  which  was initiated in recent years with two projects already carried out together city fast launched in 2018 which now covers around 3     4 million premises in very dense areas  SDAIF Société de Développement pour l  Accès à l Infrastructure Fibre launched in 2020 to cover  the  medium  dense  areas  deployed  by  orange  over  a  perimeter  of  approximately  13 million premises through the acquisition of long  term access rights  this transaction relies on   VIFs      significant experience in the  field of  fiber deployment  in  addition to the SDAIF offer SDFASTs  one   stop solution provides for  Bouygues Telecom  and third    party  operators  long    term  access  to  all  medium  and  low  dense  areas  with  the  same  partner  and  the  benefit  of  both  a complete service offer and optimal operational efficiency   this operation accelerates FTTH network deployment and thus provides       very high       speed access to the largest number of people as part of the France Very High    Speed Plan Christian Lecoq Chief Financial Officer of Bouygues Telecom comments Bouygues     telecoms objective is to offer the same quality of services to all its clients wherever they are based this new partnership will enable  Bouygues  Telecom  to  contribute  to  the  financing  of  FTTH  quick  deployment  across  all  French territory notably in rural areas with this operation Bouygues Telecom finalize the reinforcement over the long   term of its cost control on the access to all AMII and RIP areas   we are pleased to continue our trust   based  partnership  with  Vauban  Infrastructure  Partners  with  whom  we  already  built on rock and roll  solid  partnerships through CityFast and SDAIF for the access to FTTH premises  Gwenola  Chambon  CEO  and  co  founder  of  Vauban  Infrastructure  Partners  adds  in  the  wake  of city    Fast!!!  and  SDAIF  projects   we are  pleased  to  strengthen our  partnership  with  Bouygues  Telecom  by developing new common projects the Vauban IP team can be proud itself to have paved the way for digital  investments  in  France  over  the  past  12  years  we  have  considerably  developed  our  digital investments  and  this  sector  represents  one  of    our  pillows   of  expertise  as  a  long  term  investor  this transaction is  fully in line with Vaubans  strategy  to capitalize on  strong relationships with our historical industrial partners  C2 Internal Natixis Steve Ledoux head of Vauban Infra Fibre also comments this landmark transaction enables Vauban Infra Fibre to become the first independent broadband platform to offer broadband access throughout France through its various subsidiaries this national coverage and the success of our partnership with Bouygues Telecom suggest an optimistic outlook for the fibre market in France in this transaction Vauban is advised by CACIB M&A financial Clifford Chance legal Analysys Mason commercial   EY tax   and audit model Aon insurance Bouygues Telecom is advised by BDGS    legal   eight Advisory    financial    and Darrois    Villey Maillot Brochier            Antitrust the External!!!           financing required for the acquisition of the    IRUs rights has been   wholly subscribed      by        Cacib the Syndication!!!       process to both banks and institutional lenders is     ongoing CACIB     is advised by White & Case legal about??? Bouygues Telecom as  a  global  communications  operator  Bouygues  Telecom  stands  out  by  providing  the  best  of  digital technology to its 26     2 million customers every day the excellence of its 5G and 4G network which now cover more than 99     % of the population and its Fixed and cloud services enable its customers to simply and fully enjoy their personal and professional         "digital lives" wherever they are      through its Business Division Bouygues Telecom supports a community of professionals and businesses in the widespread adoption of Fixed and Mobile Very High Speed and new uses such as unified communications and business mobility    services a propos    de Vauban Infrastructure Partners et Vauban Infra Fibre  Vauban Infrastructure Partners is a leading Infrastructure Asset Manager focused on the European core infrastructure investments headquartered in Paris it employs 57 professionals who have been working together for a decade Vauban is the fully fledged affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable  infrastructure  equity  investments  Vauban  targets  predominantly  European  brownfield midmarket assets pursuing a long   term-yield  driven strategy matching the underlying nature of assets and long   term commitment to all stakeholders     interests through a strong focus on creating sustainable value  as of now Vauban Infrastructure Partners has raised c    €6   5 billion across 5 funds in core infrastructure from over  70  investors  within  15  different  countries  and  has  invested  in  over  65  assets  in  mobility  energy transition social 1 digital infrastructure across 11 different geographies         THE CREATION          Vauban Infra Fibre follows the implementation of a specialized digital investment strategy more than ten years ago Vauban was the first management company to enter the fiber market in France and it is now one of the major investors in the digital infrastructure sector in France and abroad since 2009 funds managed by Vauban IP CIF I CIF II CIF III BTP IL et FIDEPPP2 have invested in more than 20 digital infrastructures representing a total of nearly

Lucky?

Lucky?

'He's run out of words, boss.'

Well, well ... that hasn't happened before, has it? I normally have to stop him.

'Maybe he's learning.'

Learning what, Voice?

'Always leave them wanting more.'

Ha, ha, ha!

I didn't want any of it, frankly.

ENDS
ENDS
ENDS

...

Anything else?

There's nothing else.

Just nothing.

Be thankful.