Onivia, a Spain-based independent wholesale fiber network operator, today announced an agreement with MÁSMÓVIL to acquire a majority stake in its rural, wholesale fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, passing 1.1 million homes across Spain at a valuation of €390m. Notably, Onivia was created in November 2019, when Macquarie Capital and Aberdeen Standard Investments acquired MÁSMÓVIL’s urban fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, passing 940k homes.
Onivia’s History – Prior to Today’s MÁSMÓVIL Deal
In November 2019, Macquarie Capital and Aberdeen Standard paid €218.5m, equating to 18.0x EBITDA, for MÁSMÓVIL’s urban fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network. Specifically, this urban network passes 940k homes in Spain’s five largest cities, including Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Barcelona, and Málaga.
Subsequently, in May 2020, Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure became a shareholder in Onivia, joining Macquarie Capital and Aberdeen Standard.
Business Model
Onivia provides an alternative, independent source of wholesale fiber capacity for Spain’s internet service providers (ISPs) and smaller broadband businesses.
Onivia Acquires MÁSMÓVIL’s Rural FTTH Network
Following today’s acquisition of MÁSMÓVIL’s rural, wholesale fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, Onivia will double in size. Indeed, the company will extend its reach nationwide, across Spain, to over 2.1 million homes passed.
Onivia will integrate this rural fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network into its existing footprint, expanding its coverage by 1,000+ communities of <25k inhabitants. To-date, two-thirds of the total planned size of the rural network has already been built-out by MÁSMÓVIL. While the full rural network will be 100% built-out by 2022.
MÁSMÓVIL will retain a minority stake in the rural network and will deploy the fiber to new households for Onivia. Additionally, MÁSMÓVIL will operate and maintain the fiber optic network being sold.
As part of the acquisition, MÁSMÓVIL retains full ownership for its existing customers in the sold network. Therefore, MÁSMÓVIL will continue to use Onivia’s fiber network to support its customers.
Open Access Wholesale Fiber Network
Onivia will now be able to sell wholesale access services in urban and rural areas of Spain through its Integra and Impulsa Bitstream services.
MÁSMÓVIL and Orange, Spain’s fourth and second largest fixed broadband provider, respectively, are anchor tenants of Onivia’s rural fiber-to-the-home network. Therefore, both MÁSMÓVIL and Orange will continue to use Onivia’s network to provide broadband connectivity to their customers across greenfield fiber build areas.
Spain – Fiber Market
Spain’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) coverage is currently 85% and will grow to 95% by 2022, driven by rural deployments. Indeed, Spain’s fiber penetration rate is one of the highest among countries in Europe.
Additionally, Spain’s Government has put in-place regulatory measures to encourage faster rural broadband deployment. Specifically, the Government requires fixed broadband providers to guarantee coverage of 30 megabits per second or higher for at least 90% of citizens living in communities of <5.0k inhabitants.
