ICON INFRASTRUCTURE takes majority stake in BORNFIBER
Context
iCON Infrastructure acquired 85% of BornFiber, the Danish fibre operator on the island of Bornholm, from Zibra, the investment company of entrepreneur Niels Zibrandtsen, in a transaction announced on 20 January 2021 and expected to close in the first quarter. The purchase was made through iCON Infrastructure V, a fund managing 1.9 billion dollars. Zibra, which had founded BornFiber in 2015, kept the remaining 15% and stayed on as an active partner in the company’s development. BornFiber continued to operate as an independent provider on Bornholm, with Kristian Sørensen remaining chief executive. At the time of the deal its network reached nine out of ten homes on the island. The investment was intended to support the company’s growth beyond Bornholm, across the rest of Denmark and into northern Germany, drawing on iCON’s infrastructure experience and financial capacity. The firm went on to invest in the German fibre operators ropa, NGN Telecom and Wisotel later the same year. Accura advised Zibra on the sale.
BORNFIBER, which reported an EBITDA margin of [members only] in 2021, is valued in this transaction at an EV/EBITDA multiple of [members only], to compare with the average currently observed in the TMT (Tech, Media, Telecom) sector (14.4x).
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Target
Founded in 2015, BornFiber builds and operates fibre and fixed wireless networks on the Danish island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea. It lays the network itself, connects homes directly and sells broadband, television and telephony subscriptions to its customers, who are private households. Its network reaches nine out of ten homes on the island, and the company is headquartered there.
Ent. Value
€1–100M
Equity Value
[members only]
Multiples
EV / Revenue
[members only]
EV / EBITDA
[members only]
EV / EBIT
[members only]
Historical Financials (EUR)
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REFERENCES
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Authors: This transaction was contributed by a verified mynth contributor and cross-checked against available transaction documents and official company communications.
Target: bornfiber
Acquirer: icon infrastructure