Bigblu Broadband PLC Non-core Australian fibre disposal (8697Q)

TIDMBBB

RNS Number : 8697Q

Bigblu Broadband PLC

11 June 2018

Bigblu Broadband plc

("BBB" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Non-core Australian fibre disposal

Bigblu Broadband plc (AIM: BBB), a leading provider of alternative fast broadband services, announces that it has sold the fibre broadband customer base, along with relevant infrastructure, of its Australian subsidiary SkyMesh Pty Ltd to Australian provider of connectivity services Superloop Ltd (ASX: SLC) ("Superloop") for AUD $1.5m in cash.

The disposal relates to around 11,000 fibre customers serviced under the NBNCo broadband access network. Customers on SkyMesh's satellite and fixed wireless broadband services will be unaffected by the transaction.

BBB inherited the fibre customer base when it acquired SkyMesh's satellite and fixed wireless operations in 2016. As expected, due to the competitive nature of this sector, these fibre customers contributed minimal EBITDA to the Group with a profit margin contribution significantly below BBB's average. Given the lack of synergies with the rest of its products, the Company does not view these fibre customers as core to its growth strategy and, as such, believes they will be better served by Superloop.

The proceeds from the disposal will be used to fund exceptional and reorganisation costs within Australia as the business is optimised to generate higher returns. In addition, the proceeds will be used to reduce the Company's senior debt with HSBC or fund future accretive bolt-on acquisitions with customer bases focused on core satellite or fixed wireless.

Andrew Walwyn, CEO of Bigblu commented:

"Bigblu's focus is on serving customers outside the fibre footprint via a variety of alternative broadband offerings including satellite, fixed wireless, 4G and 5G and we feel that that the structure of the fibre broadband market under the NBNCo scheme does not suit our focused alternative broadband business model.

"Bigblu is clearly focused on its core markets of delivering a high quality alternative broadband service to the last 5% to 10% of customers in each territory that aren't serviced by fibre.

"We're very grateful to these fibre customers for their support whilst they've been part of the Bigblu family and we're confident they will be very well looked after in the future by Superloop who are real specialists in delivering fibre services."

Bevan Slattery CEO of Superloop commented:

"We are excited with this transaction and looking forward to migrating these clients onto the Superloop network later this year to deliver an exceptional user experience. Importantly we also look forward to continuing our long working relationship with Bigblu Broadband and Skymesh."

Contacts:

 
 Bigblu Broadband Plc                www.bbb-plc.com 
 Andrew Walwyn, Chief Executive      Via Walbrook PR 
  Officer 
 
 Numis Securities (Nomad and         Tel: [phone] 
  broker) 
 Oliver Hardy (Corporate Advisory) 
 James Black / Jonathan Abbott 
  (Corporate Broking) 
 
 Walbrook PR (PR advisers)           Tel: [phone] 
 Paul Cornelius / Nick Rome          or [e-mail] 
 

About BBB

BigBlu Broadband plc (AIM: BBB), formerly Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group PLC (AIM: SAT), is a leading provider of alternative broadband solutions throughout Europe and Australia. BBB delivers a portfolio of super-fast wireless broadband products for consumers and businesses unserved or underserved by fibre.

The Company has a significant target market with 27m customers in Europe with speeds of under 4 Mb, and a further 1m in Australia who have been identified as only suitable for either satellite or fixed wireless broadband.

Acquisitive and organic growth have enabled BBB to grow rapidly since inception in 2008 during which time the Company has completed 20 acquisitions across nine different countries. It is extremely well positioned to continue growing as it targets customers that are trapped in the 'digital divide' with limited fibre broadband options.

BBB's range of solutions includes satellite, next generation fixed wireless and 4G/5G delivering between 30 Mbps and 150 Mbps for consumers, and up to 1 Gbps for businesses. It provides customers ongoing services including hardware, pre and post-sale support, installation, billing and warranties whilst offering various tariffs depending on end user requirements.

Importantly, as its core technologies evolve, and cheaper capacity is made available, BBB continues to offer ever-increasing speeds and higher data throughputs to satisfy market demands for 'video-on- demand'. Its alternative broadband offerings present a customer experience that is similar to that offered by wired broadband and the connection can be shared in the normal way with PCs, tablets and smart-phones via a normal wired or wireless router.

High levels of recurring revenue, increasing economies of scale and Government stimulation of the alternative broadband market in many countries provide a solid foundation for the Company as it targets further organic growth to 150,000 customers by 2020 as demand for alternative super-fast broadband services increases around the world.

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June 11, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)