Mid Europa sells Bite to Providence

The sale brings an end to Mid Europa's eight-year ownership of Bite, with the GP having previously held a majority stake in the Latvian company, and returns Providence as owners of Bite, which it had previously owned through a foreign parent.

Previous funding
Bite was acquired through a carve-out from Danish telecoms provider TDC in 2007. Apax Partners, Blackstone, KKR, Permira, Providence and AlpInvest took TDC private in 2006, and sold off Bite to Mid Europa the following year.

Mid Europa paid €450m for Bite, drawing on capital from its Emerging Europe Convergence Fund II fund, a €655m 2005-vintage vehicle.

Company
Headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, Bite provides mobile network services to consumer and business customers in the Baltic region.

The company's services include mobile networks, internet access and data services.

People
Mid Europa partner Michelle Capiod led the exit for the GP, alongside Robert Chmelar, Ratko Jovic and Gyozo Lantos. Managing director Karim Tabet represented Providence. Frederick Hrenchuk is the CEO of Bite.

Advisers
Vendor – Goldman Sachs (Corporate finance); Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• CEE
• Exits
• Consumer
• Latvia
• Mid Europa Partners
• Providence Equity Partners
• United States