Apax invests in T-Mobile – one of the underlying funds held by Apax Global Alpha, Apax X Fund, is part of a consortium with Warburg Pincus LLP which has agreed to buy T-Mobile Netherlands Holding B.V. (“T-Mobile”), the European telecommunications operator.
On a look through basis, Apax Global Alpha’s share of the deal is about €22m.
T-Mobile operates four brands – T-Mobile, Tele2, Ben, and Simpel. Under the current management team, the company has become the leading mobile network operator in the Netherlands and the first to offer unlimited and nationwide 5G, as well as becoming the fastest growing operator in the fixed broadband market serving around 700,000 broadband customers at the end of Q2 2021.
Funds advised by Apax and Warburg Pincus have long-standing experience and strong track-records in the communications services and broader telecommunication, media, and technology (TMT) sector, having invested in companies globally, including in Salt (Apax), Wind Telecom (Apax), TDC (Apax), Ziggo (Warburg Pincus), Inexio (Warburg Pincus) and Community Fibre (Warburg Pincus). The two firms have also worked closely together since 2019 when their respective funds jointly invested in Inmarsat, a mobility-focused satellite operator focused on maritime, aviation and government end-markets.
Under the new ownership, T-Mobile will become an independent Dutch company and Apax and Warburg Pincus will look to partner with the management team to support the company as it continues to focus on innovation and grow its customer base.
Deutsche Telekom AG and Tele2 AB are the sellers. The deal puts an enterprise value on the company of 5.1bn euros, equating to about 8.7x historic adjusted EBITDA.
Since 2017, T-Mobile NL has significantly strengthened its mobile market share from 25% to 42% in 2020 (based on number of mobile SIMs), becoming the leading mobile operator in the Netherlands. T-Mobile NL successfully entered the fixed market with the acquisition of Thuis in 2016 and further reinforced its market position by forming a strategic partnership with Open Dutch Fiber (owned by KKR and DTCP) in 2021.