Telenor spins out infrastructure assets to create Telenor Fiber
Norwegian incumbent service provider Telenor has announced creation of Telenor Fiber AS, which will operate and expand Telenor’s fiber infrastructure in the country. To fund operations, Telenor has agreed to sell a 30% stake in the new company to a consortium that includes KKR and Oslo Pensjonsforsikring. The service provider expects the transactions surrounding the spin out to complete early next year.
The sale price of the 30% stake is approximately NOK 10.8 billion ($1.01 billion), which represents an enterprise value of NOK 36.1 billion ($3.38 billion). The business generated a proforma EBITDA of NOK 1.7 billion in 2021. Telenor says it plans to use some of the money for share buybacks to mitigate the effects of the new minority interests. The agreement includes a provision for either Telenor or the Norwegian government to buy the minority stake in Telenor Fiber if it should ever be sold.
Telenor Fiber will operate as a subsidiary of Telenor, and Telenor Norge will be its only customer. The company will launch with 130,000 km of fiber cable that connects upwards of 560,000 homes.
“We are executing on the strategy presented at the Capital Markets Day in September,” commented Tone Hegland Bachke, executive vice president and CFO in Telenor Group. “This transaction highlights the value in our infrastructure and unlocks capital to support continued high fiber roll out in Norway, and we are bringing in strong investors with a long-term horizon. Following the transaction, Telenor will propose that parts of the proceeds are used for share buy backs. We believe this transaction benefits our stakeholders while safeguarding future investments in Norway’s fiber.”
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
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