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Property developer Persimmon Homes (Persimmon Plc) has this morning announced that they’ve sold their sibling broadband ISP, FibreNest, which offered internet packages to homeowners on the developments where they’d deployed their own “full fibre” (FTTP) lines, to alternative network provider BUUK Infrastructure (aka – GTC, OFNL – Open Fibre Networks Limited).
Much like Persimmon’s approach with FibreNest, OFNL provides open access Fibre-to-the-Premise (FTTP) broadband networks that offer residents and businesses ultrafast connectivity on new build developments. But unlike Persimmon, OFNL is not restricted to only working with a single property developer and at the last update its network had already covered around 130,000 new build homes (19th Jul 2024).
By comparison, FibreNest is a younger project (started 2018) than OFNL and the network it reflects has so far covered 47,000 premises of Persimmon’s new build homes (Thinkbroadband estimate on 3rd Feb 2025). The provider has also faced some criticism due to the lack of ISP options on their network (example). FibreNest do claim to offer a wholesale solution, but no other ISPs have found their offer attractive enough to adopt.
In that sense, today’s announcement of Persimmon’s sale of FibreNest’s full fibre broadband service to BUUK Infrastructure could be significant, both for existing homeowners within their respective developments and their future ability to expand. In addition, it will also make the overall and now much larger network more attractive as a consolidation target for bigger fish.
The discounted total enterprise value for the sale is c. £100m, with £70m received upon completion and further payments contingent on business performance over the coming years. Persimmon’s Board intends to use the proceeds from the sale of this non-core asset to invest further in its growth strategy.
The sale will also remove the need for the ongoing investment that FibreNest would have required in the coming years, providing additional capital for Persimmon to allocate to deliver its medium-term growth ambitions.
Dean Finch, Group Chief Executive, said:
“The sale will provide greater choice to FibreNest customers and allows Persimmon to invest further in our growth strategy. By partnering with BUUK we have been careful to select a well-respected operator that is committed to excellent service.”
The announcement makes clear that under BUUK’s ownership, FibreNest will be able to offer improved choice for customers, with access to up to 18 other broadband ISPs to choose from (although most of them do follow a roughly similar level of pricing and service quality). The sale is expected to complete, subject to regulatory clearance, within 3 months.
Furthermore, it’s worth reminding our readers that OFNL also has a pre-existing partnership with Virgin Media (details), which makes it possible for homeowners on many of their sites to access Virgin’s services too. In theory it’s conceivable that this dual duct agreement could now be extended to include FibreNest’s property development sites too, although that has yet to be confirmed and may require additional considerations (e.g. we don’t know if FibreNest’s network or the sale agreement can be adapted in that way).