MANX TELECOM acquired by JT GROUP & CVC

Infrastructure fund manager Basalt Infrastructure Partners, acting through its newly incorporated acquisition vehicle Kelion Bidco Limited, has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Manx Telecom plc. Implemented by means of a Court-sanctioned Scheme of Arrangement under section 157 of the Isle of Man Companies Act 2006, the recommended cash acquisition has secured the unanimous backing of the target's board of directors. Instructed by independent financial advice from Oakley Advisory, the Manx Directors intend to unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the scheme resolutions, having already provided irrevocable undertakings to vote their own beneficial holdings—representing approximately 0.52 per cent of the issued share capital—in support of the transaction.

Private equity firm HgCapital, in close coordination with joint venture partner CPS Partners, has successfully executed the full exit of its investment in Manx Telecom through an initial public offering (IPO). Fully underwritten, the public listing transaction will result in the official admission and trading of the company's shares on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). This public market realization concludes a successful three-and-a-half-year holding period for HgCapital's clients (including the listed HgCapital Trust plc) and represents the fifth exit from the 2009-vintage HgCapital 6 Fund. The IPO successfully validates the execution of the original investment thesis driven by the financial sponsors. Throughout their ownership, the backing partners implemented a comprehensive corporate transformation, initially building a top-tier management team before driving accelerated organic revenue growth via high-quality, attractively priced customer packages and instituting rigorous cost-control initiatives. This disciplined operational strategy enhanced profit growth and maintained a highly cash-generative profile, which facilitated a successful leveraged recapitalization of the business in March 2013. As a newly public company, Manx Telecom is strategically positioned to efficiently capture expanding off-island digital opportunities, particularly in high-end data center provision.

European sector-focused private equity firm HgCapital has successfully agreed to acquire a majority equity stake in Manx Telecom, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Telefónica. The buyout was executed alongside CPS Partners, a specialist international telecommunications management company. Subject to customary local regulatory clearances, the transaction includes a capital commitment of approximately £11 million from the listed vehicle HgCapital Trust plc, representing 15% of the sponsor's total equity ticket. The buyout perfectly aligns with HgCapital’s core thesis of backing highly resilient, growth-oriented platforms. The Isle of Man offers a robust macroeconomic backdrop (boasting 25 years of unbroken GDP growth) and a highly favorable regulatory environment that encourages sustained infrastructure investment. Partnering closely with the management team, the financial sponsor intends to drive significant value creation by upgrading the core network and funding a new state-of-the-art data hosting center. Furthermore, HgCapital will focus on operational margin improvements and actively support a targeted buy-and-build strategy to accelerate the expansion of high-margin off-island opportunities.