Everstream Solutions, a super-regional dark and enterprise fiber provider which is majority-owned by AMP Capital, today announced that it has secured over $1bn in debt financing for the purposes of i) refinancing its existing credit facilities and ii) raising additional capital to invest in its fiber network growth in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Of Everstream’s total $1bn debt financing, $220m was in the form of a junior, holding company term loan led by DigitalBridge Credit.
Presently, Everstream’s network spans over 27k fiber route miles throughout 10 states, namely Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Overall, Everstream’s fiber optic network connects to 3.8k+ on-net locations, including 47 data centers.
Everstream has 3k+ fiber route miles under construction, which are expected to be completed during 2022. Therefore, by the end of 2022, Everstream’s network will reach over 30k fiber route miles.
Debt Refinancing – Everstream
Everstream’s $1bn debt financing package comprises a senior and junior tranche, which was anchored by both banks and infrastructure investors:
- Global Coordinating Bookrunner, Joint Lead Arranger: Société Générale (Structuring Bank), Natixis
- Joint Bookrunners and Joint Lead Arrangers: ING, Santander, and SMBC
- Joint Lead Arrangers: CoBank, Macquarie, RBC, TD Bank, and Vantage Infrastructure
- Lender to Junior Tranche: DigitalBridge Credit, in-partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments)
Notably, CDPQ (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec), via its wholly-owned subsidiary CDPQ Revenu Fixe VIII Inc., committed $150m to Everstream’s senior financing tranche.
Finally, Everstream’s $1bn debt financing marks the first U.S. digital infrastructure company to utilize an OpCo/HoldCo financing model.
Use of Proceeds
Beyond refinancing its existing credit facilities, Everstream plans to use the debt proceeds to build-out fiber to metro and rural areas across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Specifically, this fiber network growth will allow the company to expand into new markets and serve more customers.
Everstream serves large- and mid-sized enterprises with speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) and business fiber services, including low-latency dedicated internet, WAN, data center connectivity, and dark fiber.
DigitalBridge Credit – Junior Tranche, Strategy
DigitalBridge Group, through its Digital Credit strategy (DigitalBridge Credit), in-partnership with CPPIB Credit Investments III, a fund of CPP Investments, provided $220m of debt in the form of a holding company term loan to AMP Capital’s Everstream.
Strategy
DigitalBridge Credit is led by Dean Criares, formerly of Sound Harbor Partners; Joshua Parrish, previously of Ascribe Capital; and Chris Moon, formerly of ING Bank. The strategy provides senior and junior debt financing for borrowers in the digital infrastructure sector across North America and Europe. More specifically, DigitalBridge Credit offers two main products:
- Private Credit: first lien term loans, construction/delay-draw loans, unitranche, second lien term loans, mezzanine debt, HoldCo notes, and preferred equity
- Liquid Credit: primarily first lien term loans, with the use of proceeds being for acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, and recapitalizations
As disclosed in Q4 2021, DigitalBridge Credit seeks lower risk and lower return digital infrastructure investments than the firm’s flagship DigitalBridge Partners (DBP) funds and its other strategies, which include Ventures, Liquid, Core, and Credit.
