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The money raised from the IPO would be used to bolster Ice’s 4G networks in Norway
Scandinavian telco, Ice Group, has announced plans to pursue an Initial public offering (IPO) on the Oslo stock exchange, in a move that could raise $350m (3 billion kroner).
Ice Group provides low cost mobile and fixed line broadband and telecoms services across Norway and Scandinavia. The company was ranked as the fastest growing telco in Norway in 2015 and across the whole of Europe in 2017.
“In the past three years Ice Group has grown its total smartphone market share in Norway from zero to 7.4%. The key has been honest customer communication with no hidden fees or small print in our contracts, plus highly competitive products. We will continue using our customer centric strategy as a vehicle to become an even more powerful challenger to the Norwegian mobile network operator duopoly," said Eivind Helgaker, CEO of Ice Group.
Ice Group is expected to use the capital raised during its IPO to expand its 4G coverage in Norway, allowing it to reach 95 per cent of the population by 2020. In order to achieve this, Ice Group has committed to doubling the number of mobile sites it operates in the country to over 4,000 in the next two years.
"We believe our continued network build-out will further enhance our customer proposition, competitiveness and overall profitability. The planned IPO is expected to provide us with added strategic and financial flexibility to support our growth ambitions. My team and I look forward to unlocking the significant potential we see in the Norwegian market,” Helgaker said.
Norway’s government has previously stated that it would support the idea of a third mobile network build out to break up the current duopoly presided over by Telenor and Telia.
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