AMP Capital has announced an agreement to buy a majority stake in Swedish-based VX Fiber, which has operations in South Africa and the UK, and is targeting opportunities in Belgium, Austria and Germany. VX Fiber builds and runs Fibre-To-The-Premise (FTTP) open access networks and has developed a proprietary software platform running on third parties’ passive infrastructure as a fibre operator. The network is remotely run from a network operations centre (NOC) in Umea, Sweden.
VX Fiber partners fibre owners such as local municipalities, property owners and utilities to provide an active infrastructure layer for efficient network operation and to support fibre adoption. It has an open access system that invites multiple service providers and enables subscribers to choose from several independent service providers.
VX Fiber has a significant mature business in South Africa, where its active open access system has proven popular with subscribers and service providers, and now involves all significant service providers in the country, said AMP Capital.
In the UK, VX Fiber has relationships with large property owners and local councils. In 2017, it partnered the Grosvenor Estate to create a gigabit-capable fibre broadband network in London’s Mayfair and Belgravia districts. In Stoke-on-Trent, it is working with the City Council on a FTTP open access model using the council’s existing, private optical network ducting to create a 60-mile system for full-fibre gigabit broadband connectivity.
Adam Ringer, principal at AMP Capital, said VX Fiber is a “highly attractive” business with “huge scope” for growth. AMP Capital will own a majority stake in the company alongside its founder management. VX Fiber chairman Mikael Sandberg said together with AMP Capital, VX Fiber will become a significant fibre owner and fibre operator in Europe. He thanked main shareholder Fort Knox Forvaring, a Swedish family office with a dedicated venture capital arm, for its financial support since 2014
