KPN-Odido telecoms tie-up in Netherlands 'unlikely', KPN CEO says

Koninklijke KPN NV

30/01/2025 13:18

By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Jakob Van Calster
       Jan 30 (Reuters) - The CEO of telecoms group KPN
 KPN.AS  said on Thursday that any tie-up with local rival Odido
in the Netherlands was "unlikely", after a report last year said
private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Apax Partners were
mulling a listing or a sale of the mobile operator.
    
    WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
    Private equity groups are under pressure from shareholders
to deliver returns on their investments after spending billions
of euros to buy out companies or acquiring other assets such as
infrastructure.
    Last November, Bloomberg News reported that Odido's owners
were exploring an initial public offering in Amsterdam or a sale
this year, after buying it for 5.1 billion euros ($5.3 billion)
in 2021.
    Odido and KPN have the largest market shares in the mobile
segment in the Netherlands.
    
    KEY QUOTES
    "Of course we look at the Dutch environment all the time,
but Odido made a clear decision to build a mobile network in the
Netherlands while staying light on the fixed side," KPN CEO
Joost Farwerck told Reuters.
    "Consolidating our data from the mobile side will be
undoable, so it would only be (for) the customer base," Farwerck
said, adding that Odido would likely not want to sell just parts
of its business.
    
    CONTEXT
    KPN recently acquired parts of EQT-backed Delta Fiber's
network via its Glaspoort joint venture, racking up 200,000
households in the Netherlands. The deal is currently under
review by the Dutch competition watchdog.
    Analysts at KBC Securities said late last year that they saw
"the acquisition of additional fibre footprint from competitors"
as a potential avenue for KPN's local expansion.

($1 = 0.9616 euros)

 (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Jakob Van Calster in
Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi)
 ((gianluca.lonostro@thomsonreuters.com;))