Alternative UK broadband network Toob secures debt investment from Ares

Hampshire-based alternative network toob, which has built their own gigabit speed full fibre broadband network in South England and also harnesses CityFibre’s network in other UK areas, has today announced a “successful follow-on investment” into the company by Ares Infrastructure Debt strategy. But the exact financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Just to recap. Last month we reported that one of toob’s main backers, the Guernsey-based International Public Partnerships (INPP), had “elected not to commit further capital” to the provider and handed most of its original £24.1m investment off to debt holders. The provider had in the past secured up to £395m of funding (equity and debt) from the Amber Infrastructure Group, INPP and others like Ares.

The decision meant that control of toob was effectively passed to Ares, which was acting as toob’s primary credit partner and debt financier. The new follow-on investment being announced today by Ares will, we’re told, see toob “continue to execute its growth strategy from a stronger financial position as it seeks to generate long-term, sustainable value creation while maintaining exceptional service for its customers.”

In addition, toob has announced that Kevin Dean and Sarah Herriman have joined the company as Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), respectively. This was somewhat expected as major changes in a company’s financial control often trigger changes in senior company leadership, which may also result in a change in strategy.

Nick Parbutt, CEO and Founder, said:

“I am pleased to expand our existing relationship with Ares as our team remains focused on advancing our objectives to drive sustainable growth and delivering for our customers. I am also thrilled to welcome two leaders of Kevin’s and Sarah’s calibre as we look to build on our differentiated market position.”

James Fox, a Managing Director in Ares, said:

“Since Ares’ initial investment in toob in 2023, we have taken a long-term view of the company’s ability to access what we view as a significant market opportunity in the UK. Alongside our commitment of new capital, we look forward to continuing to work closely with the toob team as they benefit from the sustained demand for faster, more reliable broadband.”

As a side note, toob recently published their latest accounts to the end of December 2025, which saw them report an operating loss of £17.82m (2024: £23.50m), capex of £14.46m (2024: £46.47m), revenue of £26.05m (2024: £14.03m), total liabilities of £355.28m (2024: £299.49m) and an average number of employees of 287 (2024: 315). The company also reported being supported by a total mix of equity and debt worth £264.15m and had a total loss, after tax, of £56.63m (2024: £52.82m).

The operator originally aspired to cover 1 million premises across parts of Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex by 2027. But like many other altnets those aspirations have in recent years come under pressure from the rising cost of build, stubbornly high interest rates and competition. In recent years they’ve suffered from some job cuts and have adjusted their strategy to focus more on commercialisation (here and here).

The expectation going forward is that toob, despite the additional investment, will probably still be keen to find a consolidation partner (e.g. CityFibre is a good natural fit given their existing partnership, but as a wholesale operator they’d only be interested in the network assets). In the meantime, it appears as if Ares may already be trying to restructure the business as best they can.