Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9 ) shares have plunged 18% to a new all-time low after Iceland’s competition regulator announced a review of the sale of its prime asset, data centre operator Verne Global.

Shares in the company — which last week commenced a lengthy wind-down and announced a plan to serve notice on fund manager Triple Point — dropped 4p to 19p as DGI9 said the ‘phase II investigation’ into the acquisition of Verne by French private assets group Ardian would last for up to 90 days and could be extended by 135 working days.

While the authorities may not need all that time to probe the sale of the Icelandic company, the delay threatens to push completion of the deal, vital for cutting DGI9’s high debts, to beyond the 31 March date its board had originally announced.

‘While the Icelandic regulatory process is out of DGI9’s control, and has been received in respect of the Finnish authorities, the latest delay makes it even more challenging for the market to value the shares,’ said Deutsche Numis analyst Colette Ord.

Liberum analyst Shonil Chande said it was an ‘unhelpful’ development for DGI9 whose shares suffered a devastating crash last year and stand on a 77% discount, reducing the £940m portfolio to a market value of £166m.

‘Investors have principally been focusing on the volcano risk aspect, which was addressed by the board in a recent shareholder update call, noting that no disruption was expected on account of this. Phase II investigations are fairly common undertakings by Iceland’s anti-trust authority,’ he added.