Barcelona, July 31, 2020.– Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo, COFIDES, S.A., S.M.E (“COFIDES”) and Alantra’s private debt fund (“Alantra Private Debt”) are announcing today that they have provided an up to €36 million long-term financing to Axess Network Solutions (“AXESS”) to finance the acquisition of Latin American-based Axesat and German-based CETel, refinance its existing debt and support further international growth.

Based in Barcelona, Spain, AXESS provides satellite communications within the niche of mission-critical environments and remote locations. The Company operates three main teleports located in Germany, Mexico, and Colombia, and alternative teleports in Dubai and Peru, providing global coverage to a diverse base of industrial, energy, oil and gas, telecom, infrastructure, mining, marine and government/NGO customers. Current operations cover more than 50 countries in Latin America and Middle East & Africa.

Supported by its sponsor, Aksiom Group Limited, and its co-financing lenders COFIDES and Alantra Private Debt, AXESS seeks to take advantage of consolidation opportunities and expects to keep its growth strategy by carrying out acquisitions, joint ventures and capital expenditure in the next few years, focused on value creation, risk mitigation and geographical expansion.

This is the first project co-funded by COFIDES and Alantra Private Debt, in which COFIDES invests through the FIEX fund, exclusively managed by COFIDES on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade to promote the internationalization of the Spanish companies.

With this transaction, Alantra Private Debt has closed 22 financing transactions in the Spanish middle market segment since its  inception in 2015 with a total invested value of c. €300 million, positioning the fund as the leading provider of alternative financing in the Spain.

About Axess Networks Solutions

AXESS is a leading global player in the enterprise satellite communications industry which provides global coverage to a broad customer base with critical operations in remote locations where the reliability and security of the service is of paramount importance. Currently AXESS has a highly specialized team of more than 200 employees with over 1,000 clients in more than 50 countries on 4 continents. AXESS is born as a product of the experience of Aksiom Group Limited, a specialist in the development of high growth technical services companies. AXESS has a unique global infrastructure, recognized by the WTA (World Teleport Association), operates three main teleports located in Germany, Mexico and Colombia, and alternative teleports in Dubai and Peru.

About COFIDES

COFIDES is a public-private company which has been offering financial support to Spanish companies investing abroad since 1988. It is accredited with the EU to manage Community budgets, allowing it to structure transactions with a high impact on development. It is also accredited with the UN’s Green Climate Fund and can structure operations on climate change mitigation and adaptation with the GCF. It is the exclusive manager of FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the Secretariat of State for Trade attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and supports AECID in managing FONPRODE funds. Shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.

About Alantra

Alantra is a global alternative asset management, investment banking, and credit portfolio advisory firm focusing on providing high value-added services to companies, families, and investors operating in the mid-market segment. The Group has over 540 professionals across Europe, the US, Latin America, and Asia.

In Alternative Asset Management, Alantra offers its clients unique access to a wide range of investment strategies (direct investments, fund of funds, co-investments, and secondaries) in six highly specialized asset management classes (private equity, active funds, private debt, infrastructure, real estate, and venture capital) as well as private wealth management services. As of June 30, 2020, assets under management in direct investments stood at €1.9bn, while funds raised since inception in funds of funds, co-investments and secondary funds stood at €10.8bn.

Its Investment Banking division provides independent advice on M&A, debt advisory, financial restructuring, and capital markets transactions, having advised on over 300 deals for a total volume of €33bn in the last two years.

Alantra’s Credit Portfolio Advisory team is the leading portfolio advisory unit in Europe, having strong local presence across the UK, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Brazil and China dedicated to transaction execution, structuring, pricing, modelling and data enhancement in relation to credit portfolios and banking platforms. The team has advised on over 90 transactions for a total volume of over €62bn in the last two years.