Stifel downgrades Digital 9 Infrastructure following 'forced' Verne Global sale

Deal ‘not as good as expected’

Valeria Martinez
clock • 3 min read

Stifel has downgraded Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9) to ‘Neutral’ following news of Ardian's conditional acquisition of the trust’s crown jewel Verne Global, which the broker described as a “forced sale”.

On Monday (27 November), the DGI9 board said it had entered into a definitive agreement for its stake in the company for approximately £465m, representing a 5% discount to end-June carrying value. The $575m purchase price is comprised of a $440m cash sum split between $415m on closure of the Verne transaction and $25m deferred consideration, with an up to $135m potential earn-out, payable subject to Verne Global achieving run-rate EBIDTA targets for the 2026 financial year.  DGI9 said the sale enables the trust to deleverage its balance sheet by paying down approximately £300m of its ...

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