A wave of consolidation is expected across the sector, with larger alt-nets, such as CityFibre, poised to make a spree of acquisitions and sweep up smaller rivals.
Spring Fibre describes itself as a “sustainable” infrastructure provider with a focus on energy efficiency and carbon-reduction strategies. It said it was committed to achieving net zero by 2030.
The company initially secured backing from Kingsley Capital Partners, the London-based private equity firm, and Graphite Strategy, the specialist telecoms investor.
The infrastructure division of River Global, the merchant bank, also pledged to invest up to £155m to support the Spring Fibre rollout. However, bosses last month revealed that Kingsley would no longer provide funding for the network build or day-to-day operational costs, leaving it scrambling to raise new funds.
Gareth Greppellini, the chief executive of Spring Fibre, said the company had failed to find any new backers despite high levels of interest.
“While we can confirm we’ve had a significant level of interest, including indicative offers for the business, we don’t today have an offer that provides the necessary liquidity in the time we have available,” he said.
He added: “Unfortunately, with this in mind, we have taken the difficult decision to file a notice of intention [to appoint administrators].”
Mr Greppellini said discussions with potential purchases were still ongoing with the aim of reaching a deal that “maximises value for the business”.
