Graeme Barclay

Graeme Barclay is a former CEO and qualified chartered accountant with more than 35 years’ experience in professional services, investment banking, broadcast infrastructure and telecommunications.

Over the past 20 years Graeme has held Executive Chairman or Group CEO roles at BAI Communications, Transit Wireless LLC (New York), Nextgen Networks, Metronode data centres and Axicom (formerly Crown Castle Australia), and for 8 years was also an executive director in Macquarie Group’s infrastructure team. In these roles, Graeme was responsible for all aspects of strategy, M&A, sales and business development, contract delivery and operations, as well as implementing the appropriate capital structure and raising third party debt for these businesses in Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, USA and New Zealand. Over the past 20 years in these businesses, Graeme led and completed more than 20 acquisition and divestment transactions including the sale of Nextgen Networks to Vocus for $820 million in 2016 and the sale of Metronode to Equinix for $1.04 billion in 2018.

Included in his prior board appointments are Arqiva Limited (institutionally owned UK telecommunications infrastructure group), BSA Limited (ASX:BSA, until December 2019) and Chairman of the main board and of the audit and risk committee for Nextgen group (Ontario Teachers’ majority owned entity).

His current board appointments are Codan (ASX:CDA, since 2015), Axicom (institutionally owned mobile tower infrastructure in Australia, having resigned as CEO during 2020) and chairman of Uniti Group Limited (ASX:UWL). As chairman of Uniti Graeme has overseen an IPO, ten acquisition transactions over a 2 year period, several capital raisings in the equity and corporate debt markets, and Uniti has grown to be the fifth largest listed telecommunications company on the ASX with a market capitalisation of circa $2.2 billion. Uniti’s business includes ownership of fibre to the premise networks, a digital communications platform as a service for inbound voice, text, data and analytics and a consumer and business broadband service provider.

Graeme holds an honours economics degree, is a qualified CA, a fellow of FINSIA and a member of AICD.