Interview with Thibault Sauvage, Senior Director, Infrastructure Financing, CDPQ
CDPQ’s Senior Director of Infrastructure Financing, Thibault Sauvage, discusses key 2024 highlights for the infrastructure investor, including the structure and process behind Vantage’s E750m HoldCo debt package and speaks to what can be expected from 2025, plus how private credit can impact the European digital infrastructure space.
- CDPQ’s key highlights from 2024 and digital infrastructure investment outlook for 2025 - 00:27
- Vantage HoldCo debt deal deep dive - 02:07
- What does CDPQ seek in their industry partnerships? - 03:25
- How does private credit compete with other debt financing offerings? - 04:06
- Emerging technology’s impact on demand and variety of opportunity - 06:07
- Revival of M&A transactions and refinancings expected for 2025 - 07:22
Interview with Lionel Recorbet, CEO, XpFibre
Lionel Recorbet, CEO of XpFibre, discusses the company's E5.8bn refinancing, the company's relationship with its shareholders, and trends and strengths in the French fibre market.
- XpFibre’s E5.8bn refinancing process, and how the French fibre model allowed for a USPP to take place – 02:03
- Copper decommissioning plans, and how it well help the penetration rates for fibre in France – 02:58
- Additional possible deals in the USPP market for French fibre operators, difference for other European infrastructure operators – 03:30
- XpFibre’s relationship with its shareholders: Allianz, Altice, AXA IM Alts, and OMERS – 05:01
- French fibre overview, what needs to be done in the future once fibre rollout is complete - 06:23
- Attractiveness of the French fibre asset, valuation and multiple stability – 07:37
Interview with Oliver Bradley, Macquarie Capital's Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Digital Infrastructure Investing
Oliver Bradley, Macquarie Capital's Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Digital Infrastructure Investing, discusses their investment strategies in European datacentres and fibre, navigating different market structures, forming government partnerships, leveraging AI, and expanding the firm’s digital infrastructure portfolio across Europe.
- The firm’s infrastructure principal investment business and strategy: 0.20
- Macquarie's broader vision for digital infrastructure in Europe: 0.55
- Impact of Europe’s regulatory frameworks: 3.06
- Role of partnerships with local operators and governments: 4.42
- The AI infrastructure investment opportunity: 5.55
- Macquarie’s priorities when evaluating datacentre investments: 8.19
- Expanding the firm’s digital infrastructure portfolio in Europe: 9.38
Interview with Richard Jeffares, Founder/CEO, Vitrifi
Richard Jeffares, Founder and CEO of Vitrifi, discusses the UK’s fibre market, opportunities and predictions on consolidations, and the company’s mission to ‘cloudify’ the telecoms sector.
- Consolidation and mergers in the UK fibre market and 2025 predictions - 01:26
- Evolution in the UK market following last year’s slowdown of build - 04:15
- The ongoing challenges of fibre service adoption and lessons from other European markets - 05:23
- The impact of regulatory frameworks on fibre infrastructure deployment - 09:46
- Vitrifi’s partnership with its backer, Fern Trading - 11:51
- Inside Vitrifi’s autonomic platform for operators and investors - 14:50
Interview with Klaus Hoelbling, Partner and Managing Director, AlixPartners
Klaus Hoelbling, EMEA Leader TMT, Partner and Managing Director at consultancy AlixPartners, discusses the German and wider European fibre market for 2025, including obstacles and the importance of state involvement in supporting new rollout.
- Dynamics of the UK and German fibre markets for operators, lenders, and investors- 01:03
- The results of AlixPartners' 2024 EMEA survey; fibre consolidation and a lack of fundraising - 02:40
- The need for state funding to address consumers' fibre uptake - 03:51
- Consolidation as a means to tackle the lack of fibre uptake - 06:10
- The limitations on consolidation from 2024 and their effect on the market for 2025 - 07:38
- Trends for 2025; competitive refinancing processes and company performance - 09:20
As Europe's fibre market is redefined, how do investors, operators, and lenders respond? Click here to read the AlixPartners European Fibre Survey 2025.
Interview with Dwayne Gibson-White, Partner, Digital Infrastructure, EY Parthenon
Dwayne Gibson-White, Partner, Digital Infrastructure at EY-Parthenon discusses power allocation, hybrid financing solutions and diversification of M&A activity within the digital infrastructure space and credit case comparisons between fibre and datacentre investment.
- A capital allocated supressed year in 2024 harkened to pent up demand but a stronger pipeline for 2025 - 01:28
- Power allocation including reinforcing existing grid infrastructure and increased spend from hyperscalers in emerging markets - 02:43
- Energy requirements influenced by workload and latency - 04:56
- Exploring hybrid financing solutions including direct purchasing of natural gas and virtual PPAs - 05:50
- Diversification in M&A activity within digital infrastructure, capital allocators looking within value chain - 08:25
- Credit case comparison of fibre and datacentres, lenders nervous around fibre credit in overbuilt markets - 10:19
