Swedish mobile operator TeliaSonera has announced the sale of its Danish subsidiary, Stofa to Ratos for DKK 1.1bn (E147.5m). Ratos is a Swedish private equity firm that acts for the Söderberg family.
Stofa is a Danish triple-play operator providing…
Swedish mobile operator TeliaSonera has announced the sale of its Danish subsidiary, Stofa to Ratos for DKK 1.1bn (E147.5m). Ratos is a Swedish private equity firm that acts for the Söderberg family.
Stofa is a Danish triple-play operator providing 350,000 households with cable TV and 40% of them with broadband as well. The services are delivered in close cooperation with 300 antenna associations throughout Denmark. In addition, Stofa also sells to final subscribers who are offered interactive TV services, broadband and IP telephony.
Ole Simonsen, CEO of Stofa said: “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.”
TeliaSonera sold Stofa on a cash-and-debt-free basis and had owned the company since 1995. Stofa had for the last three years operated as an independent subsidiary, marketing its services in Denmark under its own name brand.
The Swedish telecom had decided to dispose of Stofa because its operations were not in line with TeliaSonera’s core strategy in Denmark.
“Stofa has a strong position in the Danish cable TV and broadband market. Major investments have been made in technology and networks in recent years in order to achieve high quality and the capacity to enable a broader services offering. Stofa cooperates with a large number of antenna associations and by offering even more interesting content and better services for customers, sales and profitability are expected to improve,” said Arne Karlsson, Ratos’s CEO.
Handelsbanken Capital Market acted as financial advisor to TeliaSonera. TeliaSonera will recognize a capital gain of DKK500m ($US84m) which will be reported in the third quarter 2010.
TeliaSonera has been trying to rearrange its business interests in a number of global markets. In Russia, MegaFon, part-owned by TeliaSonera, agreed last month to pay US$745 million for Synterra, a Russian telecoms operator.
MegaFon’s CEO, Sergei Soldatenkov said that his company would be looking to make further acquisitions this year. MegaFon is Russia’s third largest mobile phone operator and TeliaSonera owns 43.8% of its equity.
