According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, two sets of UK- and US-based VCs have approached the carrier’s management about a potential deal to buy the whole company, which is valued at 7.28bn euros ($8.95bn). A formal bid has yet to be made however.
The first consortium thought to be lining up for the Danish carrier includes London-based Apax Partners and Permira Advisors, along with Blackstone Group of New York, and Providence Equity Partners of Rhode Island. The second consortium is thought to include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co of New York, and London-based BC Partners.
TDC is attractive because its various operations can be easily sold to telecom competitors in different parts of Europe. It also dropped a poison pill clause in February this year.
Venture capitalists have not had a lot of success recently trying to acquire European telecoms and mobile operators. A couple of VC-backed consortiums lost out when Irish telecom operator Eircom Group Plc beat them in the race to acquire Ireland’s third largest mobile operator Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd for 420m euros ($511m).
A couple of venture capitalist consortia also lost out when France Telecom SA mounted a successful last minute bid to acquire Spain’s third largest mobile operator Amena Movil for 10.6bn euros ($12.9bn) including debt.
Prior to that, VC funds were beaten in a bidding war earlier this year to acquire Wind, Italy’s third mobile operator, which was won by the Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawris who purchased a controlling stake that valued Wind at 12.1bn euros ($14.8bn). Other failed bids include offers for mobile and fixed-line operations in Austria and the Czech Republic.
Content from our partners
