Norton Rose Fulbright advises Ares on its £178 million debt facilities to altnet provider Brsk

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised the funds managed by Ares Management Corporation’s (Ares) Infrastructure Debt strategy on its £178 million financing to alternative network broadband provider, Brsk. The initial £103 million funding, which is able to be upsized to £178m over time to support future growth, will be made available to support Brsk in continuing to expand its full fibre broadband network across targeted areas in the UK.

Ares Management Corporation is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure asset classes.

Brsk (www.brsk.co.uk) is a fast growing alternative network that was founded by Giorgio Iovino & Ian Kock in 2020, with digital infrastructure investor Advencap (https://www.advencap.com) as equity partner. Brsk builds, owns and operates a wholesale full fibre broadband network in the UK and offers retail services through its ISP called Brsk.

Giorgio Iovino, co-founder of Brsk, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ares as our new financing partner. This financing comes at an important time as we continue to invest in ramping up our build rate to expand our network and achieve our goal of 1 million premises passed. People in the UK have suffered from poor broadband for too long. We will continue to upgrade areas that are reliant on outdated copper connectivity and deliver full fibre broadband with an outstanding customer experience.”

James Fox, Managing Director, Infrastructure Debt at Ares, commented: “We have been impressed by the experience of the Brsk management team and share their enthusiasm for improving digital connectivity across the UK. We are proud to be partnering with Giorgio, Ian and the team in delivering gigabit broadband to communities across the regions.”

Tomas Gärdfors, partner, Norton Rose Fulbright who led the team advising Ares, commented: “We are delighted to have worked with Ares and Brsk on this fast-paced financing supporting the much needed roll-out of high speed alternative fibre in the UK.”

The multidisciplinary and cross-border Norton Rose Fulbright team led by London banking partner Tomas Gärdfors also included Lauren Birt and Nigel Davies with further support from Michael Alliston and Ed Spilman as well as Oliver Stacey, Mark Maurice and Dominica Cole in London and Shawn Barnett, Stephen Kennedy-Good, Hishaam Khan and Karabo Makwela in South Africa.

Sullivan & Cromwell advised Brsk.