Telenor Sells Stake in Fiber Unit to Investor Group Led by KKR and Oslo Pensjonsforsikring

Posted on 10/10/2022


On October 7, 2022, Telenor entered into a transaction to sell a 30% stake in its fiber unit Telenor Fiber AS. The agreed sales price represents an enterprise value for the Norwegian fiber business of NOK 36.1 billion, resulting in proceeds of approximately NOK 10.8 billion to Telenor. The business generated a proforma EBITDA of NOK 1.7 billion in 2021.

Earlier in 2022, Telenor initiated a process of evaluating the establishment of a passive fiber infrastructure ownership company with a minority co-investor. Telenor has now reached an agreement to divest 30% of the newly established company, Telenor Fiber AS, in Norway to a consortium led by KKR, investing through its Core Infrastructure strategy. The consortium includes Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS as a co-investor.

Telenor Fiber AS is a subsidiary of Telenor and will be a part of the Infrastructure business area. Telenor Fiber AS will own the passive fiber assets in Norway. This includes 130,000 km of cables, connecting upwards of 560,000 homes. The company’s assets will be transferred from Telenor Norway in a demerger process prior to completion of the transaction. Telenor Norge will be the company’s only customer and all operational processes remain under full Telenor control. Telenor has conducted an extensive consultation process with the relevant government authorities, who have given their overall feedback that the transaction safeguards critical security and regulatory considerations.

Telenor maintains control in the company with 70 percent of the shares.

The transaction is expected to be completed early 2023.

The transaction will not affect customers. Telenor Norway will still handle all customers, including wholesale, as per usual.

The transaction will entail no change to Telenor’s regulatory obligations, including security and Norway’s Electronic Communications Act. The fiber company will be a Telenor subsidiary.

Telenor intends to use parts of the proceeds for share buybacks to mitigate the effects of the new minority interests.

Oslo Pensjonsforsikring (OPF) is a life insurance company wholly owned by the Municipality of Oslo. OPF delivers public service pensions to most employees in Oslo municipality, municipal enterprises, several of the municipality’s joint-stock companies and employees in hospitals that were previously owned by Oslo municipality. OPF is one of the largest non-governmental investment managers in Norway, managing assets of approximately NOK 125 billion.

Get News, People, and Transactions, Delivered to Your Inbox