The owners of Finnish mobile operator DNA have called off a sale to private equity to focus on growing the business.
DNA chairman Jarmo Leino said the market was not right to proceed with the process, despite the company receiving several…
The owners of Finnish mobile operator DNA have called off a sale to private equity to focus on growing the business.
DNA chairman Jarmo Leino said the market was not right to proceed with the process, despite the company receiving several offers.
TelecomFinance understands Apax, Bain Capital, EQT and Providence had all submitted final round bids last week in excess of €1bn.
As the final bids were coming in, one banker said the sellers – former regional telcos that became holding companies – were also mulling an IPO as an alternative.
However, this has also been shelved as the company said it will keep its existing ownership base for the time being.
Finda Oy, DNA’s largest shareholder, had a 32.56% stake at the end of 2012, and Leino is its CEO and chairman.
UBS was running the sale and is understood to have put together a €1bn financing package to support a deal. That represented five times the company’s 2012 EBITDA of €191m, and most of the other banks that were advising the potential buyers were also thought to have put together rival staple financings.
Bankers had hoped for a sale to be finalised this summer, but some had warned that a trend towards inflated valuations could make the deal unpalatable.
The sale process was never likely to attract strategic players because Finland is a mature market with limited growth opportunities. There is also a lack of cross-border synergies to tempt operators, and analysts believe even acquisitive Scandinavian players like Telenor and Tele2 would probably only be interested at a significant discount.
Finnish boutique firm Initia is also understood to be advising DNA’s owners.
