KKR’s third global infrastructure fund has acquired a majority stake in UK’s largest residential gigabit broadband provider.
The investment firm said its $7.4bn (€6.7bn) Global Infrastructure Investors Fund III bought the stake in Hyperoptic from funds managed by Newlight Partners and Mubadala Investment Company for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2011, Hyperoptic covers 43 towns and cities across the UK, with gigabit broadband services passing almost 400,000 homes and businesses.
KKR said Hyperoptic will continue to be led by CEO Dana Tobak and executive chairman Boris Ivanovic.
Tobak said currently, only 8% of the UK has access to full-fibre and less than half of that to symmetrical gigabit services.
“We are confident that with the support of KKR and their significant expertise enabling high-growth businesses, our ambitious infrastructure plans to build our hyperfast network out to two million homes by 2021 and five million by 2024 will be realised.”
Vincent Policard, member, and Cristina Gonzalez, director in European Infrastructure at KKR, said Hyperoptic is strongly positioned to meet the growing demand for full-fibre services in the UK through further investment and national roll-out, supporting housing development and renovation.
“Our investment in Hyperoptic builds on KKR’s strong track record in telecommunications infrastructure in Europe, investing in and deploying next-generation digital connectivity.”
