GlobalConnect Group, a fiber provider and data center operator in the Nordics backed by EQT Infrastructure, today announced that it has agreed to acquire fiber infrastructure in North Zealand and Greater Copenhagen, Denmark from Wizer A/S, an internet service provider (ISP) in Denmark, for a purchase price in the “3-digit million DKK” range.
Transaction Overview – GlobalConnect Acquires Wizer
Presently, Wizer’s fiber network passes 20k households in Denmark. As such, the acquisition will grow GlobalConnect’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) footprint towards its goal of passing 100k households in Denmark “over the coming years”.
In Denmark, GlobalConnect operates under the brand name Onefiber and allows its fiber network customers to choose their internet service provider (ISP). Specifically, Onefiber offers the broadband services of Fastspeed, Kviknet, Telenor, and Wizer through its fiber network.
The agreement between GlobalConnect and Wizer also includes a long-term collaboration, where Wizer will continue deploying fiber networks to private households in Denmark, as a subcontractor to Onefiber.
Finally, the GlobalConnect and Wizer transaction is expected to close in May 2022.
GlobalConnect – Overview
GlobalConnect’s fully-owned fiber network spans 62.1k miles (100k kilometers) across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northern Germany. During Q1 2022, the company added more than 1.55k miles (2.5k kilometers) of new fiber-optics to its network.
With this fiber network, GlobalConnect serves 30k business customers. Further, including Open Universe (see below), GlobalConnect’s network passes a total of 650k households in its Northern Europe markets.
Additionally, GlobalConnect operates 38 data centers, comprising 355k sqft (33.0k sqm) of data center space in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Growth Strategy
GlobalConnect is pursuing a strategy to grow through both acquisitions and organically:
M&A
In February 2022, GlobalConnect acquired fiber assets in Sweden from Telenor, including the wholesale operator Open Universe and Telenor Sweden’s single-dwelling unit (SDU) fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) assets for $330m USD.
Organic Growth
Organically, GlobalConnect is connecting its first homes through a fiber roll-out program for northern Germany. Also, as shown in the map below, GlobalConnect is deploying a “mega capacity” fiber cable from the very north of Sweden (Luleå) all the way to Berlin, Germany, as part of an investment of over €50m.
Notably, Luleå (Norrbotten), Sweden is where Facebook (Meta Platforms) is growing its data center campus as part of a $1.0bn+ (8.7bn+ Swedish Kronor) investment, which will ultimately span a total of 1.0 million sqft (94k sqm).
