KKR-backed group acquires 30% stake in Telenor fibre unit for $1bn

• The consortium, led by KKR, includes Oslo Pensjonsforsikring as a co-investor
• The newly established company, Telenor Fiber, is a subsidiary of Telenor and it will own the passive fibre assets in Norway
• Telenor maintains control in the company with 70 percent of the shares

Telenor ASA, announced it has sold a 30% stake in its Norwegian fibre broadband unit to a consortium led by KKR, for Nkr10.8 billion (€1 billion; $1 billion). The consortium includes Oslo Pensjonsforsikring as a co-investor.

Telenor is a state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Fornebu, Norway. Telenor Fiber AS, the newly established unit, is a subsidiary of Telenor and it will own the passive fibre assets in Norway. These assets include 130,000 km of cables, connecting upwards of 560,000 homes. The company’s assets will be transferred from Telenor Norway in a demerger process prior to completion of the transaction, expected to close in early 2023.

Telenor intends to use parts of the proceeds for share buybacks to mitigate the effects of the new minority interests.

KKR, headquartered in New York, made the investment through its Core Infrastructure strategy.

“We are very excited to be investing long-term capital behind Norwegian infrastructure. KKR has significant experience within telecom infrastructure investing, and we look forward to supporting Telenor with its fibre strategy in Norway”, said Julian Barratt-Due, director, European Infrastructure at KKR.

Oslo Pensjonsforsikring is a life insurance company wholly owned by the Municipality of Oslo.