Pacific Fibre has announced that ANZ Bank, Credit Suisse and First NZ Capital are to lead fund-raising for its planned undersea cable system.
ANZ will raise $US400 million; in a statement from Pacific Fibre announcing its appointment as lead arranger of the financing, ANZ executive director for institutional relationships John Vetter says: “As lead arranger, we intend to provide a significant portion of the required financing for other qualified Australasian and international banks to join this financing.”
While ANZ is raising the debt part of the financing, investment firms Credit Suisse and First NZ Capital are seeking investors to put up cash as equity.
Pacific Fibre CEO Mark Rushworth says in the statement: “Pacific Fibre’s undersea cable system will unleash the potential of the Australian NBN and New Zealand UFB/RBI projects.
“It will provide the fastest path to the United States with the most competitive cost basis and help Australia and New Zealand meet the ever-increasing demand for international voice, data and internet content.”
The cable will have 40Gbit/s speeds and, according to Pacific Fibre, will have five times the capacity of the Southern Cross network.
Early-stage investors in the venture include Sir Stephen Tindall.