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Superloop completes AU$10m NuSkope acquisition

The South Australian ISP has been scooped up by the APAC fibre infrastructure firm for a total of AU$10 million.
Written by Asha Barbaschow, Contributor

Asia-Pacific fibre infrastructure company Superloop has announced the acquisition of South Australia-based fixed wireless internet service provider NuSkope and its associated entities RA-WIFI and RA-ADSL for a total of AU$10 million.

The acquisition, comprised of AU$7 million in cash plus AU$3.0 million in Superloop shares at an issue price of AU$2.457, is expected to give Superloop NuSkope's "strategic assets", which includes ownership of existing wireless network infrastructure, a network coverage service qualification tool, and a CRM database.

Ownership of NuSkope's network infrastructure also provides Superloop with further network ownership economics and control, the former said in a statement, noting the acquisition is also expected to enhance its existing fixed wireless infrastructure and allows further utilisation of capacity accessed through its AU$20 million capacity agreement with Vocus Communications.

Superloop said NuSkope generated customer revenue of over AU$7.1 million for the 2017 financial year, with adjusted EBITDA of over AU$2.4 million.

Superloop announced the acquisition of submarine cable construction company SubPartners for $2.5 million in April, with the purchase occurring via the issue of 1,451,869 fully paid ordinary shares in Superloop at an issue price of $2.255 per share.

According to Superloop, the acquisition will provide it with important APAC submarine cable capacity and assets across the region, including the newly announced Indigo subsea cable system connecting Sydney, Perth, Singapore, and Jakarta.

The acquisition of SubPartners followed Superloop last year also buying out BigAir, which was approved by shareholders in December.

The purchase was funded by AU$65 million raised in September, AU$75 million via new revolving debt facility with ANZ bank, and AU$104 million in scrip issued to vendors.

Superloop said it would combine its fibre assets with BigAir's wireless network and capabilities in order to provide a high-speed wholesale alternative to the National Broadband Network (NBN) across outer metro and regional areas.

The BigAir acquisition will also allow Superloop to accelerate its fibre rollout across Australia and make use of BigAir's fibre-extender millimetre wireless solution for services within a 1km to 4km radius.

For the first half of the 2017 financial year, Superloop reported a net loss of AU$2 million, improving on the AU$3.5 million loss recorded for FY16, on reported EBITDA of negative AU$6.5 million.

Superloop's revenue jumped by 351 percent year on year to reach AU$8.8 million.

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