Aleph and Crestview exit Interoute in €1.9bn sale to GTT

Kenny Wastell
27 February 2018

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Aleph Capital and Crestview Partners have agreed to sell their stakes in Interoute Communications, a UK-based provider of fibre networks and cloud-based platforms, as part of a тЌ1.9bn trade sale to US trade buyer GTT Communications.

The deal values the business at 11.5x its adjusted EBITDA for the period ending in September 2017. Unquote understands it generated a return of more than 2x for Aleph after a holding period of three years.

Following the GPs' initial investment in Interoute, the company acquired cloud infrastructure business Easynet from MDNX in a £402m deal. It is understood the group increased revenues from €424m to €718m during that period, with adjusted EBITDA growing from €92m to €165m.

The deal marks the first exit for Aleph, which was founded in 2013.

Previous funding
Aleph and Crestview acquired a 30% stake in Interoute from Emirates International Telecommunications in March 2015, with the Sandoz Family Foundation retaining a majority stake in the company.

The GPs then provided fresh capital to support the acquisition of Easynet in September of the same year, a deal that was financed by a combination of debt and equity.

Company
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in London, Interoute is a provider of fibre networks and cloud-based platforms. The business operates 15 data centres, 17 virtual data centres and 51 co-location facilities, and has a 72,000 km fibre network across Europe.

People
Interoute Communications – Gareth Williams (CEO).
GTT Communications – Rick Calder (president, CEO).

Advisers
Company – Credit Suisse International (corporate finance); Evercore (corporate finance); Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal).
Acquirer – Goodwin Procter (legal).