CMS advises River and Mercantile (R&M) on £155m investment in Spring Fibre

International law firm CMS has advised specialist investment management company River and Mercantile on its £155-million investment in wholesale fibre operator Spring Fibre.

Well known as a provider of listed equity investment funds, R&M’s Infrastructure fund invests in long-life income generating assets with outstanding ESG credentials. The fund targets investments in assets related to energy transition or digital transition.

CMS Corporate partner Katie Nagy de Nagybaczon comments: “We are delighted to have advised River and Mercantile on this investment. The deployment of fibre is lagging in the UK and too many areas still have to rely on poor connection. Through its partnership with Spring Fibre, River and Mercantile is looking to address this issue, and we wish both companies every success in this new chapter.”

The multidisciplinary CMS team was led by Katie Nagy de Nagybaczon on the corporate side and Katie Duffield on the finance side, with support from Alex Stanciu, Belinda Sweeney and Jade Tran (Corporate), Huw Knott and Francis Beechinor-Collins (Finance), Jason Todd (Tax), Andrew Quayle and Kate Haywood (Employee Incentives), Emily Matthews and Hattie Ryland (Employment). 

This deal is the latest in a series of high value fibre transactions that CMS has advised on. Most recently, CMS advised Foresight Group on its follow on investment in Lightning Fibre, and supported CityFibre on its major expansion of its strategic partnership with Vodafone.