The Swedish private equity fund EQT Mid Market has announced the sale of Swedish fibre infrastructure provider IP-Only to EQT Infrastructure. The enterprise value amounts to SEK 18.25 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) and an earn-out of up to SEK 1.0 billion. The deal is expected to close in June 2019 and follows a competitive auction with both industry and financial buyers.
EQT said IP-Only has installed fibre connections to more than 200,000 households in Sweden, tripled the employee base and increased revenues and EBITDA by more than four and five times respectively since its acquisition. EQT Mid Market acquired IP-Only in 2013 when the company was a focused wholesale and enterprise data communications supplier. Today, IP-Only provides fibre to both the B2B and B2C segments, with a nationwide network and connectivity to the other Nordic countries.
From 2013 to 2018, IP-Only’s revenues increased by a yearly average of 34 percent, from SEK 452 million to SEK 1.94 billion and adjusted EBITDA by a yearly average of 39 percent from SEK 180 million to SEK 930 million.
During EQT Mid Market's ownership, IP-Only has invested some SEK 9 billion to expand its network and execute a consolidation strategy, including fifteen private add-on acquisitions and two buy-outs from Stockholm Stock Exchange. In 2014, IP-Only launched an FTTH offering.
