Doughty Hanson in talks with Telia over Yoigo deal

Ongoing Talks between UK buyout house Doughty Hanson and Swedish-Finnish telephone operator TeliaSonera over the acquisition of a controlling stake in Spanish mobile business Yoigo may have hit a rough spot.

It is understood that Telia wants to reduce its 76.6% stake in Yoigo to somewhere below 50% in order to avoid consolidating the totality of Yiogo's losses. However, Telia wishes to continue managing the business.

Formerly Xfera Moviles, Yoigo was formed in 2000 as a consortium to compete for a new UMTS license in Spain, which finally won out. Xfera received record financing of EUR2.4bn from a syndicate of investors including Spanish construction group ACS, private equity firm Mercapital, Finnish phone operator Sonera, Ahorro Corporacion and Orange Ventures.

Following the round of financing, the largest received by a start-up in the region, the breakdown of the company's shareholder base was: ACS-Sonera 34%, Vivendi-FCC 31%, CF Alba 7%, Mercapital 7%, ACESA 6%, Cajas de Ahorro 5%, JP Morgan 3% and other unnamed shareholders 7% (October 2001, page 8).

Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures currently has various portfolio companies in the mobile telecommunications sector, including wireless security specialist AdaptiveMobile; IP provider Citel Technologies; telecom fraud prevention service provider Subex Azure; integrated solution telecom provider Touchbase; and digital antenna designer Ubidyne.

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