On Tuesday, U.K.-domiciled private equity advisory firm Apax Partners and $64 billion private equity growth investor Warburg Pincus announced that they have agreed to buy T-Mobile Netherlands Holding B.V., the Dutch subsidiary of the telecom giant, from Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG and Tele2AB. The deal values T-Mobile Netherlands at EUR 5.1 billion (about $6 billion).
T-Mobile, which operates the T-Mobile, Tele2, Ben and Simpel brands, is currently the largest mobile network operator in the Netherlands, the first-mover in 5G rollout, and the fast growing fixed broadband operator in the Netherlands, with around 700,000 broadband accounts as of June 30.
Private equity buyers Apax and Warburg Pincus have previously co-invested in telecommunications infrastructure. In 2019, the two companies jointly backed Inmarsat, a mobility-focused satellite operator focused on maritime, aviation and government end markets. Apax has previously invested in telecom names Salt, Wind Telecom, and Danish telecom TDC, while Warburg Pincus has backed Ziggo, Inexio and Community Fibre. Under their joint ownership, T-Mobile will become an independent Dutch company.
Calling the deal’s announcement “a big day” for the firm, T-Mobile Netherlands CEO Søren Abildgaard said his firm looked forward to working with Apax and Warburg Pincus in the coming years.
“We are looking forward to continuing our strategy in the Dutch market, offering superior value to our customers. As such, we remain steadfast in our promise to deliver the best possible customer experience, powered by the best mobile network in the world. We have come a long way and repositioned T-Mobile as a winning player by driving innovation and change within the market, being the first mobile operator to offer unlimited and nationwide 5G,” Abildgaard said.
“T-Mobile fits perfectly with the Apax Funds strategy of investing in innovative companies with solid fundamentals and strong growth prospects,” said Apax Funds partner Gabriele Cipparrone. “T-Mobile enjoys strong brand recognition and has become the leading mobile operator in the Netherlands, with a growing presence in fixed broadband, leveraging future-proof fibre-to-the-home technology. We look forward to supporting the Company to further accelerate growth and become a leading convergent player, by enhancing its network leadership, growing its fibre to the home customer base and delivering a best-in-class customer service.”
Pointing to his firm’s investment in T-Mobile Netherlands and the wireless revolution that “has only just begun,” Warburg Pincus Deutschland Managing Director and European Co-Head René Obermann was similarly enthusiastic.
Over the next decade everyone will be able to remotely participate from anywhere in the world, enjoying an unprecedented virtual experience, and it will be possible for everything to be connected; becoming smarter, more efficient and safer. We will support the company to lead this development and invest even more into people and their skills, next generation networks and digital services, so that customers will ask: ”Waarom kunnen andere telecom bedrijven niet zo goed zijn als T-Mobile?” (“Why can other telecom companies not be as good as T Mobile?”)
Indeed, why not?
