Sunrise Communications plans to list shares in Switzerland in the next six months, with a view to raising 1.35 billion francs (€1.1 billion) to fund network investments.
The operator, which provides fixed-line, mobile, broadband and TV services in Switzerland, on Wednesday announced that it will list on the SIX Swiss Exchange in the first half of 2015.
There has been talk of an IPO from the telco for some time. Last year Reuters reported that improved financial figures at Sunrise could encourage its owner, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, to explore its options, including a sale or listing of the company.
In the most recent quarter to the end of September 2014, Sunrise posted a 2.2% increase in revenues to CHF531 million (€442 million), while EBITDA grew by 6.3% to CHF181 million.
CVC acquired Sunrise for CHF3.3 billion in 2010 from Danish incumbent TDC.
"The planned IPO will underpin the execution of our strategy and facilitate our ongoing investments into technology, customer care and network to continue the improvement of customer experience and service quality for our valued Swiss customers," Sunrise CEO Libor Voncina said, in a statement.
"We are excited a bout our growth prospects and believe that our strong cash flow profile will enable us to reward shareholders with an attractive distribution policy going forward," he added.
Sunrise said the IPO will enable it to deleverage its balance sheet and reduce the cost of debt. This, combined with its operational performance and a reduction in capex to more normal levels after hefty investments in recent years, will permit the telco "to implement an attractive and sustainable shareholder distribution policy," it said.
It plans to pay out a CHF135 million dividend for 2015 and will pay out at least 65% of equity free cash flow from 2016 onwards. It has also pledged to return excess cash to shareholders once it reaches its target 2.5x net debt to EBITDA structure.
