LONDON, UK: Bigblu Broadband plc (AIM: BBB.L) announced that its fully owned Australian business, SkyMesh has conditionally completed the acquisition of the Satellite operations of Harbour ISP PTY LTD, a subsidiary of Uniti Group LTD in Australia, for a total consideration of up to AUD$5.2 million.

The acquisition is conditional on the appropriate FIRB regulatory and NBN Co Limited network approvals being obtained in Australia.

Bigblu Broadband is a leading provider of alternative superfast and ultrafast broadband solutions throughout Australasia and the Nordics.

 The satellite operations being acquired currently consist of c.6k customers. Post completion following the relevant approvals having been obtained, the customer base will be transferred to SkyMesh who will provide full ongoing support services from its Australian Customer Engagement Centre.

Pursuant to the terms of the acquisition agreement, Uniti will continue to provide services for up to three months post completion to ensure a smooth transition of the customer base. The transfer of the customer base is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.

Following completion, the Directors anticipate that the acquired operations are expected to generate annualised revenues of c.£2.5m and EBITDA of c.£0.7m with positive cash generation, enabling the Group to continue to reinvest and grow the business in the Australian market. Pro forma previous 12 months revenue and underlying adjusted EBITDA for the operations being acquired were £2.4m and £0.6m respectively.

The Directors believe that the profitability of operations being acquired should improve under Bigblu Broadband’s ownership due to the Group’s better operational gearing and economies of scale and SkyMesh’s dedicated focus on customers in this sector. The Board will continue to focus on creating significant shareholder value through the rapid scaling of its Australasian Operations. In addition, the Board also continues to explore all options to realise value for BBB shareholders from SkyMesh, which could include a potential ASX listing of SkyMesh.

The trading update for the year ended 30 November 2022 will be issued on 12th December 2022.

Andrew Walwyn, CEO of BBB plc, said: “SkyMesh, our Australian business, is an excellent operation and we are delighted to work with Uniti on this transaction as we seek to rapidly scale our Australasian operations in order to increase options for creating Shareholder Value within the Group.”

Michael Simmons, CEO of Uniti Group said: “After a period of discussion we are delighted to have concluded a transaction for our satellite customers to the ambitious market leading Australian business, SkyMesh. We will continue to provide support services during the transition period and know these customers will be well looked after.”