Linkem Announces €100 Million Equity Investment to Accelerate Growth
January 12 2017 - 12:35PM
Business Wire
Linkem S.p.A. (“Linkem”), the leading provider of fixed wireless
broadband services in Italy, today announced a €100 million equity
investment from funds managed by BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK)
(“BlackRock”) on behalf of its clients and existing investors,
including Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE: LUK) (“Leucadia”)
and Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: COWN) (“Cowen”), to accelerate
growth as it expands its LTE ultrabroadband fixed wireless network
across Italy.
This investment will bring the total equity capital invested in
Linkem to over €500 million, representing one of the largest
examples of recent foreign direct investment into Italy.
“We are excited to have BlackRock’s support and we appreciate
the increased commitment from our existing shareholders,” said
Davide Rota, CEO of Linkem. “This financing round provides all the
equity capital needed to achieve our near-term goals to cover 80%
of Italian households and deliver ultrabroadband services to
millions of subscribers, validating Linkem’s objective of providing
simple, affordable, high-speed internet access across Italy.”
With over 400,000 subscribers and more than 2,000 cell sites,
Linkem’s ultrabroadband fixed wireless network currently covers
over 60% of the Italian population, and provides service in 18 of
the 20 top metropolitan areas in Italy, including Rome, Florence,
Palermo, Bari, Turin and Naples. Utilizing LTE fixed wireless
technology and Linkem’s portfolio of dedicated, nationwide 3.5 GHz
spectrum, the Company can deploy an ultrabroadband network at a
fraction of the cost and time required for a comparable fiber
system.
“We are pleased to become a partner in Linkem with Leucadia and
Cowen on behalf of our clients. Linkem has a compelling market
opportunity in Italy and a proven track record of growth. We look
forward to the company’s continued drive to meet its commercial
objectives and the benefits they will provide to the Italian
consumer,” said Patrick Riordan, Managing Director at BlackRock
Private Markets.
About Linkem S.p.A.
Linkem, the fastest growing broadband provider in Italy, is
transforming the Italian broadband market by building and providing
a high-value, ultrafast Fiber-To-The-Wireless broadband
alternative. Linkem provides service to over 400,000 subscribers
across its LTE-based, fixed wireless ultrabroadband network,
utilizing its dedicated, nationwide 3.5 GHz spectrum. Presently
Linkem’s network of more than 2,000 cell sites covers over 60% of
the Italian population. Linkem is headquartered in Rome, and has
offices in Florence and Milan as well as two company-owned call
centers in Bari and Taranto, and today has over 700 employees. For
additional information, visit www.linkem.com.
About BlackRock, Inc.
BlackRock is a global leader in investment management, risk
management and advisory services for institutional and retail
clients. At September 30, 2016, BlackRock’s AUM was $5.1 trillion.
BlackRock helps clients around the world meet their goals and
overcome challenges with a range of products that include separate
accounts, mutual funds, iShares® (exchange-traded funds), and other
pooled investment vehicles. BlackRock also offers risk management,
advisory and enterprise investment system services to a broad base
of institutional investors through BlackRock Solutions®. As of
September 30, 2016, the firm had approximately 13,000 employees in
30 countries and a major presence in global markets, including
North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle
East and Africa. For additional information, please visit the
Company’s website at www.blackrock.com | Twitter: @blackrock_news |
Blog: www.blackrockblog.com | LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock
About Leucadia National Corporation
Leucadia National Corporation is a diversified holding company
that invests in a broad array of businesses. The Company’s
financial services businesses and investments include investment
banking and capital markets (Jefferies), asset management (Leucadia
Asset Management), foreign exchange trading services (FXCM), real
estate (HomeFed), commercial mortgage banking and servicing
(Berkadia), and vehicle finance (Foursight and Chrome). The
Company’s merchant banking businesses and investments include beef
processing (National Beef), a diversified holding company (HRG),
oil and gas exploration and production (Vitesse Energy and Juneau
Energy), automobile dealerships (Garcadia), manufacturing (Idaho
Timber), telecommunication services in Italy (Linkem), and a gold
and silver mine (Golden Queen).
About Cowen Group, Inc.
Cowen Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services firm and,
together with its consolidated subsidiaries, provides alternative
asset management, investment banking, research, sales and trading
and prime brokerage services through its two business segments:
Ramius and its affiliates make up the Company’s alternative
investment segment, while Cowen and Company, a member of FINRA and
SIPC, and its affiliates make up the Company’s broker-dealer
segment. Ramius provides alternative asset management solutions to
a global client base and manages a significant portion of Cowen’s
proprietary capital. Cowen and Company and its affiliates offer
industry focused investment banking for growth-oriented companies,
domain knowledge-driven research, a sales and trading platform for
institutional investors and a comprehensive suite of prime
brokerage services. Founded in 1918, the firm is headquartered in
New York and has offices worldwide. For additional information,
visit www.cowen.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170112005836/en/
Media Linkem S.p. A:Comin and PartnersRiccardo
Acquaviva, +39 06 89169407M +39 348
0811485riccardo.acquaviva@cominandpartners.com
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