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The investment will help Hyperoptic realise its ambition of providing five million FTTH connections in the UK by 2024
US investment fund KKR has acquired a majority stake in UK fibre to the home pioneer, Hyperoptic, in a deal reported to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
KKR bought the stake from Newlight Partners and Abu Dhabi based sovereign fund Mubadala. While no official value has been publicly revealed, sources close to the matter estimated Hyperoptic’s net value £500 million.
Mubadala originally acquired a 21 per cent stake in Hyperoptic in 2018 for around £80 million. The Emirati firm decided to sell off its stake as KKR wished to acquire a controlling interest.
“This is less about Mubadala wanting to move out and more about KKR wanting to move in,” Hyperoptic’s chief executive, Dana Tobak told reporters from the UK’s Financial Times.
KKR has been steadily acquiring telecoms and fibre infrastructure across Europe, spending around $3.5 billion bagging a string of assets, including a stake in German Altnet, Deutsche Glasfaser.
Hyperoptic has ambitious plans for fibre to the home rollout in the UK, as the company looks to ratchet up its fibre penetration levels.
“We are confident that with the support of KKR and their specific expertise in enabling high-growth businesses, our ambitious infrastructure plans to build our hyperfast network out to two million homes by 2021 and five million by 2024 will be realised.
Hyperoptic has been a key player in the UK’s drive towards full fibre connectivity, with the company’s chief exec winning Total Telecom’s CEO of the Year award at the World Communication Awards in 2018. KKR acquires controlling stake in UK fibre specialist Hyperoptic
The investment will help Hyperoptic realise its ambition of providing five million FTTH connections in the UK by 2024.
