By Stuart Thomson

Private equity outfit EQT’s new infrastructure fund – EQT Infrastructure V – and another private equity investor, Stonepeak, have jointly agreed to acquire Dutch FTTH network provider Delta Fiber from EQT Infrastructure III.

Following the closing of the deal, expected in December, each party will hold a 50 per cent stake the company. With the acquisition of a stake in Delta Fiber, EQT Infrastructure V is expected to be 60-65 per cent invested.

Delta Fiber provides high-speed broadband, TV and fixed and mobile telephony to Dutch households and businesses over a 50,000 km fibre-based network infrastructure that connects approximately 900,000 households and businesses across the country.

Delta Fiber in its current incarnation was created in 2018 from the merger of Delta and CAIW, which were acquired by EQT Infrastructure III in February 2017 and January 2018, respectively.

According to EQT, Delta Fiber is on track to reach one million connections by the end of 2021. Its latest network rollout will be based on XGS-PON technology that enables speeds up to 10 Gbps, a prelude to 25G-PON technology that enables speeds up to 25 Gbps.

Both EQT Infrastructure and Stonepeak say the are committed to accelerating nationwide B2C and B2B FTTH connectivity in suburban and rural area in the Netherlands.

Delta Fiber has an ambition to reach a footprint of two million fibre connections by 2025, covering a quarter of the country.

Partner within EQT Infrastructure’s Advisory Team, Matthias Fackler said:, “We are deeply impressed by Delta Fiber’s management and employees’ strong performance over the past few years. EQT Infrastructure is excited to support their continued journey of digitizing the Netherlands by providing high quality broadband infrastructure to Dutch households and businesses. EQT Infrastructure shares this vision with Stonepeak whose vast experience in the digital infrastructure space makes them an ideal partner to support Delta Fiber in its next phase of evolution and growth.”

Senior managing director at Stonepeak, Brian McMullen, said: “Stonepeak has long recognized the mission critical nature of broadband in today’s society and we look forward to working with Marco and the team to accelerate the additional rollout of Delta Fiber’s network across the Netherlands. We are delighted to partner with a like-minded peer in EQT Infrastructure on this transaction, which will accelerate Delta Fiber’s ability to connect households throughout the country with reliable broadband.”