Deutsche Telekom has put its Dutch subsidiary T-Mobile Netherlands up for sale, sources in the telecom and finance sectors told Dutch paper Het Financeele Dagblad. The report estimates the sale could raise EUR 4-5 billion, with mainly private equity companies interested.
With only three mobile operators in the Netherlands, an acquisition by KPN or Vodafone would not be allowed. T-Mobile is already the largest mobile operator in the country, supported by its acquisitions of Tele2 in 2019 and more recently the MVNO Simpel. However, it remains small in the fixed market compared to the two rivals, which are increasingly focused on fixed-mobile packages.
According to the FD's sources, private equity players such as Apollo, Cinven, Providence, Warburg Pincus and Apax may be interested in T-Mobile. Several could also group together for the acquisition.
Deutsche Telekom has been looking to sell assets in order to reduce debt following its takeover of Sprint in the US. It has considered a sale of the Dutch business before, and T-Mobile remains part of its corporate development unit, rather than the Euorope business.
In 2015, the Dutch company was put up for sale for a reported EUR 5 billion, but did not receive offers higher than EUR 1.8 billion, CEO Soren Abildgaard recently told de Telegraaf. DT's minimum price then was thought to be EUR 2.2 billion. Rumours emerged again in 2019 of a possible sale or stock market listing for the Dutch operator. However, no concrete plans emerged, perhaps due to the distraction of the coronavirus crisis.
Since then T-Mobile has been working on building out its position in the Dutch market, including launching its own fibre network services in a partnership with Primevest. This could make the company an attractive target for Delta Fiber, the operator owned by EQT which is quickly expanding to become the second-largest FTTH operator after KPN.
Any deal would also require Tele2's support, as it still holds a 25 percent stake in T-Mobile Netherlands. According to the FD, Tele2 is keen to monetise the stake.
The report said the company hopes to have a deal in place by the summer, but some sources expect this could take until Q3.
