Global Voice hits right note with €32m bond

Irish-owned data network firm Global Voice, which trades as euNetworks, has raised up to €32m in funding through the issuing of a convertible bond.

Global Voice said it intends to use the proceeds of the bond to accelerate the roll-out of metro networks and associated services in London, Berlin, and Munich.

The funds will also be used to enable it complete the commissioning of a next generation long-haul network through Germany and to build an additional datacentre in Amsterdam.

Global Voice owns and operates a €1.3bn high-capacity network which connects Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, and Belgium, and combines meshed "last-mile" metropolitan fibre networks in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hanover, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, London and Dublin.

The total issued amount of the bond is up to €32m before expenses, with a five-year maturity and three per cent annual interest rate.

"We are very pleased with the very positive response and uptake of our convertible bond offering with the financial community, which we feel fully validates our performance to date, and strategic plan for the future," said Noel Meaney, chief executive officer of Global Voice.

"This investment enables us to accelerate investment in key markets such as London, Amsterdam and Germany where we have already seeing strong advanced demand for our expanded service and infrastructure offerings," he added.

Global Voice Group was established by Meaney in 2002 following a management buyout of the data centre company, Metromedia Fiber Networks Ireland.

That deal saw MFN transfer ownership of its 75-kilometre fibre ring in Dublin, as well as its 125,000 square foot data centre in Dublin, to Global Voice. MFN Ireland had spent over $100m constructing the two assets, both of which were launched just seven months before MFN's parent company declared bankruptcy in the US.

Headquartered in Germany, Global Voice also has offices in Dublin and the Netherlands, and has its financial headquarters in Singapore, where it is listed on the local stock exchange.

© 2007 ENN