It is one of the biggest fibre investments this year in Europe and will fund more capacity and new routes – Paris-Marseille bottleneck will be among the first to benefit
NORD/LB is co-underwriter and joint bookrunner on a refinancing package, which includes six other investors, of about €1.3 billion for EXA Infrastructure. It is hailed as one of the largest rounds of financing for fibre infrastructure in Europe this year.
EXA Infrastructure’s network spans more than 155,000km across 37 countries (see shot of interactive map above by Mapbox – the red line shows partner infrastructure). Its fibre and data centre interconnection services provide connectivity for hyperscalers, global enterprises and public sector institutions.
The refinancing deal will provide EXA with “a strengthened capital structure to accelerate network investment, upgrade long-haul fibre routes, and expand capacity in key data corridors connecting major European hubs,” according to the press statement.
Boosting capacity on Marseille-Paris route
Shortly after announcing the refinancing deal, EXA said its first major investment would be to improve network diversity and capacity between Paris and Marseille, to address what it calls “one of Europe’s critical connectivity constraints” for more than 15 years.
It adds that it was the first operator to provide new low loss G.652D fibre between Paris and Marseille in 2024 and now will increase the fibre count on that route due to unprecedented demand for access to subsea cables.
At the same time, EXA will provide more route diversity between the critical hubs with “a new and fully geographically diverse Paris-Dijon-Marseille route” to improve resilience.
“Enhancing network diversity and removing long-standing constraints like the Marseille–Paris corridor is central to our mission of delivering a more resilient and scalable digital infrastructure for Europe,” said Steve Roberts, SVP Network Investments and Products at EXA Infrastructure. “This investment directly supports the needs of hyperscalers, AI and HPC providers, and enterprise customers who depend on high-performance, low-latency connectivity.”
Unrivalled ability
Jim Fagan, CEO, EXA Infrastructure, said: “This move gives us an unrivalled ability to continue investing in our network, at a time when our customers need growing amounts of capacity across more routes, to handle an evolving set of applications and demands.
“Our recent investments have already shown our strategic focus, and with this refinancing, EXA Infrastructure is firmly positioned to lead in network and digital infrastructure throughout Europe and across the Atlantic.”
Digital infrastructure is one of the German bank’s major investment areas. “NORD/LB is proud to have supported EXA Infrastructure and I Squared Capital on this significant financing, marking an important milestone for the bank as Underwriter & Bookrunner,” said Duncan Gibson, Head of Syndication & Distribution – EMEA at NORD/LB.
