NEW YORK, NY (May, 09, 2024) – ING Capital LLC today announced the closing of the first dark fiber green loan, a $90 million syndicated revolving credit facility for Bandwidth IG (BIG), a metro data center-to-data center dark fiber network provider. The financing marks the near completion of BIG’s network expansion in the San Francisco Bay Area and additional capital for expansion in BIG’s core markets.
ING acted as Sole Lead Arranger and Sole Green Loan Structuring Agent of the revolving credit facility (RCF) with financing commitments from BankUnited, N.A., and Woodforest National Bank. The new $90 million CapEx RCF replaces the previous financing of $59 million.
Proceeds of the RCF will be used to complete the Bay Area expansion project, an over 200-mile, 100% buried fiber loop around the San Francisco Bay, connecting data centers in the area, including the first marine cable laid under the Bay in over 20 years. Further expansions will provide the latest state-of-the-art, fiber optic underground networks to BIG’s core markets, offering unparalleled diversity, fiber density, and scalability to customers across its regions and beyond.
“Our partnership with ING, BankUnited, N.A., and Woodforest National Bank marks a significant milestone in our mission to empower our customers with unique & state of the art dark fiber solutions,” said BIG’s CFO, Mark Elder. “This financing will accelerate our efforts to expand our network, providing the digital highways for innovation and growth in California, Georgia, Oregon, and future markets.”
This new facility solidifies BIG’s commitment to revolutionizing dark fiber infrastructure and meet the escalating demand for modernized fiber infrastructure – especially as AI usage continues to grow.
“The Bay Area has been the center of technological innovation for decades and Bandwidth IG’s infrastructure provides the solutions for the next phase of development as data and computing capacity requirements continue to grow,” said Jason Aingorn, managing director at ING.
“We’re proud of financing this expansion and our longstanding relationship with Bandwidth IG. Like them, we’re committed to financing the digital infrastructure that will power America’s future,” said Hugo Zijdewind, vice president at ING.
BIG’s San Francisco Bay Area network is on net to more than 65 data centers and will reach 10 additional facilities upon completion of the expansion. The project is expected to be complete by Q2 2024. To learn more about BIG’s networks and its diverse routes, visit www.bandwidthig.com.
About Bandwidth IG
Bandwidth IG is a metro dark fiber provider that offers high capacity, strategically placed, dark fiber networks to mission critical data centers, hyperscalers and enterprises throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Portland and Greater Atlanta areas. BIG’s network is brand-new and purpose-built to minimize latency and signal loss, and to maximize diversity. BIG’s 100% underground network meets critical data needs for enterprises and data centers who require quality, new connectivity options. BIG’s San Francisco Bay Area network offers more than 310 route miles and 65 data centers. The Greater Portland network has more than 15 route miles and 15 data centers, and the Greater Atlanta network has more than 170 route miles and 20 data centers. Bandwidth IG was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Visit BandwidthIG.com to learn more.
About ING Americas
ING Americas is the brand name of ING’s wholesale business in the Americas region, and a part of ING Group N.V. (“ING”), a global financial services company of Dutch origin with a network spanning 40 countries. ING has more than 58,000 employees offer financial services to customers in over 40 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
Sustainability is an integral part of ING’s strategy, evidenced by ING’s leading position in sector benchmarks. ING’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating by MSCI was affirmed ‘AA’ in September 2022. As of August 2022, Sustainalytics considers ING’s management of ESG material risk to be ‘strong’, and in June 2022 ING received an ESG rating of ‘strong’ from S&P Global Ratings. ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell. ING Americas offers a full array of wholesale financial products, such as commercial lending, corporate finance and as well as financial markets, products, and services.