Cinven exits Ufinet Spain, retains Ufinet International

The UK-based private equity firm decided to sell only Ufinet's Spanish business, and to retain Ufinet International, which operates in Latin America, in a different fund, Sixth Cinven Fund.

Unquote understands that the deal was valued at around €2bn.

According to Cinven, its fifth fund will generate a capital gain of €1.1bn and an IRR of 61% from the sale.

Cinven acquired Ufinet, originally known as Gas Natural Fenosa Telecom, in June 2014 from Spanish utility provider Gas Natural Fenosa for €510m, deploying capital from its €5.3bn Fifth Cinven Fund.

Under Cinven's ownership, the company completed its carve-out from Gas Natural Fenosa by creating a standalone entity, with its independent reporting, IT and accounting systems. In addition to this, the business grew organically and expanded internationally through add-on acquisitions, consolidating its presence in Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay.

Company
Originally known as Gas Natural Fenosa Telecom, Ufinet was founded in 2009 as a result of the merger between Desarrollo del Cable and Unión Fenosa Redes de Telecomunicación. Following Cinven's acquisition in 2014, the business was rebranded as Ufinet and its headquarters were moved from Barcelona to Madrid. The company provides fibre infrastructure and transmission services to telecoms operators in Spain and Latin America. Ufinet has 66,800 kilometres of fibre network across two continents and employs approximately 1,020 people.

People
Cinven – Thomas Railhac, David Barker, Jorge Quemada (partners); Miguel Segura (principal).
Ufinet – Iñigo García del Cerro (CEO).

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

• Topics
• Exits
• Southern Europe
• Infrastructure
• Buyouts
• Cinven
• Spain