The deal is expected to go through in Q1 2022, subject to the usual approvals. No financial details disclosed.
EQT Private Equity is to sell Adamo, a wholesale and retail provider of FTTH services in Spain, to the French firm Ardian Infrastructure, which invests in Europe and the Americas.
Adamo is said to be the fastest growing, open access fibre-to-the-home platform in Spain with a nationwide footprint of 1.8 million homes passed, serving about 250,000 retail and wholesale subscribers.
Rural retail and wholesale
With headquarters in Barcelona, Adamo’s network deployment strategy focuses on rural areas and “has contributed significantly to providing underserved rural areas with essential broadband services”.
It also claims to have pioneered 1Gbps broadband services in the Spanish market.
EQT Private Equity acquired a majority stake in Adamo in 2017 in that period has expanded the network from 100,000 homes passed in the Cataluña region to 1.8 million homes nationwide.
It says this was achieved by organic network roll-out and network acquisitions, and by shifting the business model from purely retail to include wholesale too: it has wholesale contracts with four out of five national operators in Spain as well as with more than 160 local operators.
Second Spanish exit for EQT
Fredrik Gillström, Co-Founder of Adamo commented, “This transaction marks an exciting milestone for Adamo. We decided to partner up with EQT to release the full potential of the Company and execute on the market opportunity we saw back in 2016.
“Five years later, we can conclude that we could not have found a better partner on this journey given EQT’s experience in scaling companies and alignment on values and purpose. We look forward to partnering with Ardian to further build on the strong position Adamo today enjoys in the Spanish fibre market.”
Carlos Santana, Partner and Head of the EQT Private Equity Advisory Team in Spain, added, “Adamo was EQT Private Equity’s first investment in Spain, and it represents our second successful exit. Adamo is a great showcase of how EQT can support local entrepreneurship with value-add expertise while contributing positively to society.”