Cinven to acquire GNFT for €510m

Following the acquisition the company will look to expand its existing activities in Central and South America.

Cinven stated it was attracted to the deal by the growth potential for fibre-optic networks in emerging markets, GNFT's existing presence in Spain and Latin America and the company's recent financial performance.

Capital for the transaction was drawn from Cinven's fifth fund, which held its second final close on €5.3bn in June 2013. The fund had previously held a €5bn final close in March of the same year, but requested an extension of the fundraising period after a number of investors failed to commit by the deadline.

The fund recently invested in the €2.5bn SBO of Nordic software business Visma.

Debt
UBS and Barclays provided debt to facilitate the acquisition.

Company
Barcelona-based fibre network operator GNFT was founded in 2009 after the merger of Desarrollo del Cable and Ufinet. The company has reported a 13% increase in EBITDA between 2011 and 2013.

People
Jorge Quemada, a partner at Cinven, led the deal and will take a seat on the board alongside Thomas Railhac, principal. Iňigo García del Cerrov is managing director of GNFT.

Advisers
Equity – 360 Corporate (Corporate finance); UBS (Corporate finance); KPMG (Financial due diligence); Solen (Commercial due diligence).

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