Digital 9 Infrastructure has seen its share price slide by over 26% today after updating the market on its biggest holding, Arqiva.
The company said it has received a pre-emption notice after minority shareholders in Arqiva, representing a combined 26.5% stake and led by Macquarie funds, agreed to sell their interests for £16.5 million.
The sale is linked to Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund II, which is well past maturity and is being wound up.
Arqiva is a critical piece of UK digital infrastructure, running the national terrestrial TV and radio broadcast network and providing smart metering services for utilities, as well as satellite uplink and distribution.
For the London-based firm, Arqiva is by far the most important asset, with its 51.8% stake making up around 75% of the group’s adjusted gross asset value at the end of June 2025, valued at £213.2m.
Digital 9 stressed that the price agreed for the Macquarie stake is well below the valuation implied by its own loan note in Arqiva.
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The business said Arqiva’s value depends heavily on a few big upcoming milestones, which include the government’s DCMS decision on the future of TV distribution by end-2027, renewed long-term broadcast contracts that start expiring from 2030 and refinancing Arqiva’s debt structure.
The company’s investment manager, InfraRed Capital Partners, will revalue the portfolio at year-end, with the Arqiva valuation independently reviewed and audited.
Digital 9 is already in managed wind-down mode, aiming to sell assets over time to return cash to shareholders.
However, the board said it still believes selling its Arqiva stake before those policy, contract and refinancing questions are settled would be too early and unlikely to deliver a fair price for investors.
The business has seen its share price slump by over 26% to 5.6p today and it is now some way off the £1 mark which it sat around upon its 2021 IPO.
Its market cap still sits at over £50m.