GlobalConnect Group, a fiber provider and data center operator in the Nordics backed by EQT Infrastructure, today announced its financial results for full-year 2020. Presently, in 2021, GlobalConnect operates 52.5k route miles (84.5k route kilometers) of fiber and 290k sqft (27.0k sqm) of data center space. Geographically, GlobalConnect provides these digital infrastructure services across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Northern Germany.
Financial Performance in 2020 – GlobalConnect
In 2020, GlobalConnect reported revenue of €577m, a 7.6% organic increase year-over-year, and adjusted EBITDA of €272m, an 11.9% increase year-over-year. As a result, the company’s EBITDA margin was 47.2% in 2020, a ~290 bps improvement year-over-year.
Finally, in 2020, GlobalConnect invested €487m in capital expenditures to primarily fund more fiber builds.
Country-by-Country Performance
Below is GlobalConnect’s financial performance for 2020 decomposed by its main geographic operating regions:
- Sweden: revenue of €230m and adjusted EBITDA of €132m, equating to a margin of 57%. Also, CapEx investments were €329m, equivalent to 68% of total spend
- Denmark / Germany: revenue of €179m and adjusted EBITDA of €57m, equating to a margin of 32%. Additionally, CapEx investments were €70m, equivalent to 14% of total spend
- Norway: revenue of €180m and adjusted EBITDA of €85m, equating to a margin of 47%. Also, CapEx investments were €88m, equivalent to 18% of total spend
Note that GlobalConnect Group reports -€12m of revenue and -€2m of EBITDA as other eliminations.
Business Overview – GlobalConnect’s Fiber
In 2021, GlobalConnect operates across both B2B and B2C business segments.
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Through its B2B segment, the company operates under the brand GlobalConnect, across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Northern Germany for enterprise customers.
In 2020, GlobalConnect carved-out its international carrier business, by launching its standalone business unit, GlobalConnect Carrier. Specifically, GlobalConnect Carrier targets the high-capacity connectivity needs of customers such as hyperscalers, carriers, and system integrators in the Nordics.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
Through its B2C segment, the company operates under the brands IP-Only in Sweden, Homenet in Norway, and Onefiber in Denmark.
GlobalConnect connects 378k homes and serves 28.0k enterprise customers with its high-capacity fiber network. In 2020, the company connected 60.9k homes in Sweden and 14.8k homes in Norway to its network. Additionally, GlobalConnect rolled-out fiber in three cities in Denmark during 2020.
GlobalConnect – Formation by EQT Infrastructure
EQT Infrastructure, in December 2016, acquired an 80% interest in GlobalConnect from the Zibrandtsen family. In terms of valuation, GlobalConnect was valued at €450m, equivalent to 14.0x EBITDA.
Separately, in June 2019, EQT Infrastructure acquired IP-Only from EQT Mid Market. In terms of valuation, IP-Only was valued at €1.8bn, equivalent to 19.6x EBITDA.
Subsequently, in December 2019, EQT Infrastructure merged its portfolio companies GlobalConnect and IP-Only. As a result, two of the firm’s funds own stakes in GlobalConnect, namely EQT Infrastructure III and EQT Infrastructure IV.
For further comparable transactions, check out our comprehensive list of fiber precedent M&A transactions here.
