Stofa in €148m private equity sale
By Julian Clover
Published: July 9, 2010 10.51 Europe/London

TeliaSonera has agreed to sell its Danish cable operation Stofa to Ratos, a listed private equity company, which specialises in the Nordic region. The sale price is DKK1.1 billion (€147.6 million) on a cash and debt free basis.

Stofa was acquired by the Swedish-Finnish telco in 1995, but has always operated as an independent company. It offers a competive triple play bundle of television, telephony and high speed internet.

“The sale of Stofa is a natural next step that will enable Stofa to continue to offer flexible and innovative product offerings,” said Stofa CEO Ole Simonsen. “We are looking forward to start a new chapter in Stofa’s development with Ratos as owner. Ratos has significant experience within innovation – an experience that will benefit all of Stofa’s customers.”

Handelsbanken Capital Market has acted as exclusive financial advisor to TeliaSonera.

The agreement is subject to approval of relevant competition authorities as well as TeliaSonera Board approval.

TeliaSonera will benefit from a capital gain of over DKK 500 million which will be reported in the third quarter 2010.