Aware Super takes minority stake in European fibre network platform

Aware Super has taken a minority stake in London-headquartered bandwidth and data centre connectivity leader euNetworks.

While it did not disclose the size of the stake or investment, it said the deal was part of a €2.1 billion equity recapitalisation via a vehicle led by global infrastructure and real assets manager Stonepeak, anchored by Mercer and Aware Super.

The deal also includes direct investments from the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) and APG Asset Management.

euNetworks builds and invests in city and long-haul fibre networks to connect over 540 key European data centres and data hubs. It owns and operates deep fibre networks in 18 cities, as well as a highly differentiated long-haul network that spans 45,000 route kilometres across 17 countries.

Mark Hector, head of infrastructure at Aware Super, said the investment will assist the fund in capturing the tailwind of digitisation and the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

“euNetworks’ market-leading characteristics have contributed to its historical growth and we’re excited to partner with our co-shareholders to empower the euNetworks team to capture the strong industry tailwinds arising out of the acceleration in AI innovation and adoption,” he said.

“This is also a strong opportunity for us to further diversify our global digital infrastructure holdings into Europe.”

Kevin Dean, interim CEO of euNetworks, also highlighted the “robust value proposition and fundamental infrastructure” delivered by the firm.

“We’ve had a fantastic partnership with Stonepeak and IMCO since 2018 along with our other investors, and we extend our gratitude to them for their unwavering support,” he said.

“The combination of Stonepeak, IMCO, APG, Mercer and Aware Super coming together as the new euNetworks represents a very strong opportunity for our customers, our people, our partners and the communities in which we operate.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved and are excited for the future, continuing to construct and deliver Europe’s future critical infrastructure with our customers and our long-term committed investors.”

Sharing the news on LinkedIn, Aware Super’s deputy CIO and head of international Damien Webb said the fund has achieved its “first year’s goals of investment into private equity and now infrastructure”, adding that announcements on property are likely to follow soon.

The investment in euNetworks marks the first infrastructure deal originated out of Aware Super’s London office, which commenced operations late last year.

At the time, it confirmed around $17 billion was invested in the UK and Europe and the initial focus for the team at its new UK headquarters would be on real estate, infrastructure, and private equity, with an emphasis on the energy transition sector, affordable housing, innovation, life sciences, technology, and the digital infrastructure sector.