Category Archives: News

Main enters growth partnership with Enterprise Architecture (EA) leader Bizzdesign

Main Capital Partners

Main Capital Partners today announces the acquisition of a majority stake in Bizzdesign, a global Enterprise Architecture software company. Bizzdesign’s Enterprise Architecture cloud platform helps customers with complex digital business changes by giving them insights to increase the success rate of business transformation and drive strategic execution. The partnership with Main strengthens Bizzdesign’s market-leadership position and fuels its growth strategy by further expanding its global footprint and executing strategic add-on acquisitions.

Bizzdesign, headquartered in The Netherlands, was founded in 2000 by a team of Dutch innovators as the commercial spin-off of a Research and Development institute. The company’s growth has accelerated significantly over the years, fuelled by its inspiring customer-centric vision, relevant and innovative product offerings, talented employees, and a dedicated global partner system. Bizzdesign has local international operating offices in Boston (USA), London (UK), and Gronau (Germany).

In 2021, Bizzdesign was recognised as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Architecture for the 6th consecutive time. Bizzdesign Horizzon, its flagship Enterprise Architecture SaaS platform, brings together strategy, IT architecture, operating models, data, capabilities, change portfolios and ideas into a single, intuitive, collaborative business design platform. Real-time visibility of key metrics and trends allows customers to take action quickly.

Bizzdesign has more than 350 customers globally with a strong customer presence in the financial services and public sectors. The company counts many blue-chip giants amongst its global base, including Desjardins Technology Group, Maersk, T-Mobile and ASML. Bizzdesign has direct operations in EMEA and North America, and it has recently expanded to the Asia-Pacific region with a presence in Australia.

International growth acceleration
Supported by Main’s international software expertise, Bizzdesign will now look to further develop its product portfolio offering to enable customers to achieve rapid time to value of their business transformation initiatives. In addition, Bizzdesign and Main will jointly aim to accelerate its already impressive growth trajectory. This strategy will include the expansion and delivery of its innovative product offering and roadmap, and strategic add-on acquisitions with a prerequisite for geographical expansion.

Hugo Ehrnreich, Chief Executive Officer of BiZZdesign, commented:
“We’re proud of how we’ve consolidated and expanded our global leadership position over the last five years. We’ve done so thanks to our growing world-class customer base, uniquely powerful Enterprise Architecture cloud platform, and above all, our unique culture and the unrivalled expertise, passion and dedication of our team. But this is only the beginning. We see immense untapped potential to ‘take our company to the next level’ and unleash the full value and power of Enterprise Architecture for our customers’ businesses and the broader enterprise, business, solution and security architect community. We’re therefore delighted to partner with Main to accelerate this path to ‘next-level value’ and strengthen our product offering and innovation, geographic footprint and global strategic partner network through selected strategic add-on acquisitions.”

Dr. Harmen van den Berg, co-founder of Bizzdesign, said:
“Over the past 22 years, Bizzdesign has grown from a small Dutch R&D start-up to a Global Leader in Enterprise Architecture and we’re partnering with some of the largest private and public organizations in the world. As founders, we’re proud to welcome Main as co-investors to the Bizzdesign family. It was critical for us to find the right partner with the right cultural fit and a strong expert team to support us in scaling further while ensuring continuity for our customers and our team. With Main, we’re convinced that we’ve found this partner and we’re excited to write the next chapter of our company’s story together.’’

Pieter van Bodegraven, Managing Partner Benelux at Main Capital Partners, added:
“We have known the founders and management team of Bizzdesign for several years and have been consistently impressed by their performance. Bizzdesign is a leading software provider in the Enterprise Architecture market, which has been rapidly expanding in recent years. The increasing need to align business strategy with IT and the complexity of these change projects is expected to continuously drive growth moving forward. We are therefore delighted to partner with the Bizzdesign team and combine forces to further strengthen and accelerate the company’s profitable growth track record through the combination of strong continued organic growth and strategic add-on acquisitions.”

Bizzdesign
Founded in 2000, Bizzdesign is the trusted global SaaS Enterprise Architecture platform and recognized as a leader by major analyst firms. They help the world’s leading public and private organizations guarantee the success of investment prioritization, transformation initiatives, and risk management. Bizzdesign helps architects and executives to see a full multi-dimensional picture, find and design the right path and execute with confidence to their targeted future. The company believes that success should not be a matter of luck. It should be by design.

Main Capital Partners
Main Capital Partners is a leading software investor in the Benelux, DACH and the Nordics. Main has almost 20 years of experience in strengthening software companies and works closely together with management teams of its portfolio companies as a strategic partner, in order to realize sustainable growth and build excellent software groups. Main counts over 50 employees and has offices in The Hague, Stockholm and Düsseldorf. As of October 2021, Main has over EUR 2.2 billion of assets under management. Main has invested in more than 130 software companies to date, whom have created jobs for approximately 5,000 employees.

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Ratos company HENT signs major contract to build 70,000 square metres of office premises in Stavanger

Ratos

The construction company HENT has been appointed as general contractor for the Valhall project, where 70,000 square metres of modern, flexible and energy-efficient office premises will be completed in the middle of 2025 in Jåttåvågen, Stavanger. The land is owned by Hinna Park Utvikling (HPU), and the buildings will be, among other things, home to the new headquarters of Aker BP and Aker Solutions in Stavanger.

The project, which is worth NOK 2 billion, will be carried out with HENT as general contractors after a collaboration phase within HENT’s “Project agreement model”.

Ratos strongly believes in partnering and collaboration in construction contracts. Partnering leads to more satisfied customers, lower total costs for customers and significantly fewer miscommunications.

“As the company’s owner, we are proud that HENT will be involved in building another landmark in an important region in Norway. We will do our utmost to live up to the trust invested in us,” says Christian Johansson Gebauer, Chairman of the Board of HENT and President, Business Area Construction & Services, Ratos.

“We are very pleased that after a good and constructive phase of collaboration, we can realize the project as general contractors. The building will, in line with the best sustainability standards, be certified to BREEAM Excellent and WELL GOLD and thus become an office building adapted to current and future sustainability requirements. Rogaland is a region that HENT will continue to invest in moving forward,” says Jan Jahren, CEO of HENT.

For further information and media contact:
Josefine Uppling, VP Communication, Ratos, +46 76 114 54 21

About Ratos
Ratos is a business group consisting of 14 companies divided into three business areas: Construction & Services, Consumer and Industry. In total 2021, the companies have approximately SEK 25 billion in net sales. Our business concept is to own and develop companies that are or can become market leaders. We have a distinct corporate culture and strategy – everything we do is based on our core values: Simplicity, Speed in execution and It’s All About People. We enable independent companies to excel by being part of something larger. People, leadership, culture and values are key focus areas.

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Linden Announces Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Aspirion

Linden

Chicago, IL and Columbus, GA (June 21, 2022) – Linden Capital Partners (“Linden”), a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to make a majority investment in Aspirion (the “Company”), a leader in technology-enabled healthcare revenue cycle management (“RCM”). Following the transaction, the Company’s management team and Aquiline Capital Partners (“Aquiline”), a private investment firm based in New York and London, will remain investors in the Company.

Aspirion is a leading healthcare RCM provider across complex claims and revenue integrity, offering a broad array of technology-driven solutions for the most specialized revenue cycle challenges faced by hospital systems and healthcare providers. The Company’s team of healthcare, legal, and technical professionals, in conjunction with its proprietary AI-enabled software, help hospitals and physicians improve claims processing time and increase overall collections. Aspirion’s product suite is centered on complex claims, an umbrella category for third party liability claims related to non-traditional payors, and revenue integrity, which addresses clinically complex claims with traditional medical payors.

“We are very excited to enter into this partnership with Linden and leverage Linden’s deep healthcare experience, relationships, and strategic support to execute against our shared value creation plan and better serve our clients,” said Jason Erdell, CEO of Aspirion.

Kam Shah, Partner at Linden, said “We congratulate Jason and the entire Aspirion management team on their collective roles in building a highly regarded provider of specialized RCM solutions whose differentiated capabilities help hospital systems and providers navigate a difficult operating environment characterized by increasing denial rates and growing complexity in patient clinical records. We look forward to supporting Aspirion and positioning the Company for continued growth, particularly through strategic investments in technology, product, and M&A.”

“We are proud to have helped Aspirion become an industry leader in complex claims RCM through investing in people, technology and strategic acquisitions,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Aquiline Capital Partners. “We look forward to continuing as investors and, alongside Linden, supporting Aspirion through its planned next phase of growth.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Baird is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP is serving as legal counsel to Aquiline and Aspirion. Guggenheim Securities, LLC and Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., are serving as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Linden. Twin Brook Capital Partners is providing debt financing for the transaction.

About Aspirion
Aspirion, headquartered in Columbus, GA, helps hospitals and physicians recover otherwise lost claims revenue from Motor Vehicle Accidents, Workers’ Compensation, Veterans Affairs, and TRICARE as well as out-of-state Medicaid, Medicaid eligibility, underpayments, and denials. Aspirion’s experienced team of healthcare, legal, and technical professionals combined with industry-leading technology platforms help ensure that providers receive their Complex RCM revenue so that providers, hospitals, and their staff can focus on patient care. The Company serves over 140 clients across 45 states, including 40% of the largest health systems in the U.S.

About Linden Capital Partners
Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country’s largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. The firm has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.

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Ardian acquires majority stake in telecoms operator, Aire Networks

Ardian

Ardian, a world leading private investment house, has today announced its acquisition of a majority stake in Aire Networks, the Alicante-based telecommunications services company, through its latest buyout fund.  Ardian has purchased the stake from Magnum Capital, and will support Aire Network’s growth plans in the coming years.

Aire Networks, based in Elche, Alicante, was founded in 2002 by Raul Aledo, Miguel Tecles and Emilio Gras, who are currently the CEO, CTO and CIO of the company respectively, and maintain their stake in the company. The Ardian Buyout team will work together with the Aire Networks management team to continue driving its ambitious growth plan.

The company provides telecommunications services for operators and companies, offering connectivity, digitalisation and digital transformation services based on cloud and neutral fibre. The company is a market-leader in Spain and Portugal, and is developing an international expansion plan.

With Ardian’s support, the telecommunications company will continue to drive its growth, with the aim of becoming the European market-leader. Aire Networks has made several acquisitions of other operators since 2019, including Unelink and Prored, its rival LCRcom, and the Portuguese company, AR Telecom. It aims to further expand its portfolio of products and services, as well as strengthening its geographical presence.

This investment has been made by the Ardian Buyout team, led by Gonzalo Fernandez-Albiñana in Spain. The company will be managed independently from Adamo, another Ardian portfolio company owned by the Infrastructure team, led by Juan Angoitia in Spain.

“Aire Networks is a company with a unique business model that makes it a key player in the digitalization of companies and the development of communications. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to support Raul, Miguel, Emilio and the entire Aire team in this new phase of growth.” Philippe Poletti, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of the Ardian Buyout team

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including obtaining regulatory approvals.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world leading private investment house, managing or advising $130bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,300 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. We also provide a specialist service for private clients through Ardian Private Wealth Solutions. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 900+ employees, spread across 15 offices in Europe, the Americas and Asia, are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility.
At Ardian we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last.

www.ardian.com

Media contact

ARDIAN

HEADLAND

ardian@headlandconsultancy.com  

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Butterfly Ventures from Finland announces new sustainable fund

Tesi

The Finnish fund manager Butterfly Ventures has announced a new sustainable fund which bases its  operations on the EU Arcticle 8 and on the related Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (“SDFR”). The first closing was made at EUR 47 million, and the targeted size is EUR 100 million.

The fourth fund by the manager invests in science-driven deep tech and hardware startups in the Nordics and the Baltics.

”Butterfly Ventures differentiates in the Finnish market with its close cooperation with local universities and research communities. This cooperation can generate new deep tech and hardware startups among others, and the commercialization of their innovations. The fund manager thus has a noticeable impact on the society, and we at Tesi are glad to be able to support the continuation and development of such operations,” comments Enni Rautio, Investment Manager at Tesi.

“From the very beginning, Tesi has supported us in fund raising. They have sparred us along, and Tesi’s thorough approach is highly thought of among investors. Such approach has been especially valuable as this is the first time when Tesi and its Swedish counterpart, Saminvest, are cornerstone investors in a fund where the latter operates under AB-structure and and other investors in the Finnish KY-structure”, elaborates Juho Risku, partner and founder at Butterfly Ventures.

Also, the KRR IV fund-of-funds managed by Tesi gave an investment commitment in the new fund. Read about the KRR concept, established to boost the investment operations of Finnish institution investors. Neither Tesi or KRR have invested in the other, earlier funds by Butterfly Ventures.

Read more:

 

Additional information:

Enni Rautio, Investment Manager, Fund Investments
enni.rautio@tesi.fi
+358 45 137 3653

 

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of transformative economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, together with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 2.4 billion euros. www.tesi.fi | @TesiFII

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Tesi exits battery diagnostics startup Akkurate

Tesi

The global metal and mining corporation Sandvik acquires Akkurate, a Finnish startup developing analytics software for batteries.

With the transaction and the know-how Akkurate brings with it, Sandvik will advance the electrification of its operations.

Tesi’s investment in Akkurate was made from the Venture Bridge special investment programme that was established to mitigate the negative effects of the corona pandemic and closed for initial investments at the end of March 2022.

Read more:

 

Additional information:
Samppa Sirviö, Investment Manager, Venture Capital Investments
samppa.sirvio@tesi.fi
+358 50 518 6063

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of transformative economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, hand-in-hand with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 2.1 billion euros. www.tesi.fi | @TesiFII

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Carla raises funding from Bonnier Ventures

Bonnier Ventures is pleased to announce an investment in Carla, the first Nordic e-commerce company for electric cars. Existing investors Inbox, Black Ice and VNV also participated in the round of approximately SEK 205 million.

 

At carla.se you can buy and sell electric cars. Carla offers delivery and collection of electric cars throughout Sweden within 72 hours. All cars are battery tested, inspected at 280+ points and prepared for top condition. The customer always gets a 12-month guarantee, favorable financing, a 14-day right of withdrawal and a free return where Carla picks up the car.

 

Since the start in autumn 2021, Carla has experienced a high growth. The company has reached an annual turnover rate of SEK 600 million and an average Trustpilot score of 4.9. The capital is intended for Nordic expansion, product development, increased capacity for deliveries, repair of cars, and development of aftermarket services.

 

“We are extra proud of raising money from reputable investors, both existing and new – despite the current world and market situation. It feels safe that we, together with our investors, share the long-term vision of radically improving the experience of selling, acquiring, and owning an electric car.” says Patrik Illerstig, CEO and founder of Carla.

 

“We are glad to be supporting Carla in this round and are impressed by the growth they have shown and the reception the service has received in the market. The investment is also part of our increased focus on sustainability and an important investment in relation to the transition to a more sustainable society. We look forward to following and supporting the company on its continued journey that is only in its infancy.” says Dajana Mirborn, Investment Director at Bonnier Ventures.

 

For more information:

Dajana Mirborn, Investment Director, Bonnier Ventures, dajana.mirborn@bonnier.se

 

About Bonnier Ventures:

Bonnier Ventures is the venture and growth arm of the Bonnier Group. We make investments in fast growing companies with exceptional teams across multiple growth stages. Our investment focus areas are HealthTech, FinTech, Sustainability, Software and MediaTech. Previous investments include (among others) Doktor.se, Natural Cycles and Acast.

 

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Linden Announces Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Aspirion from Aquiline Capital Partners

Aquiline

Chicago, IL and Columbus, Ga. (June 21, 2022) – Linden Capital Partners (“Linden”), a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to make a majority investment in Aspirion (the “Company”), a leader in technology-enabled healthcare revenue cycle management (“RCM”). Following the transaction, the Company’s management team and Aquiline Capital Partners (“Aquiline”), a private investment firm based in New York and London, will remain investors in the Company.

Aspirion is a leading healthcare RCM provider across complex claims and revenue integrity, offering a broad array of technology-driven solutions for the most specialized revenue cycle challenges faced by hospital systems and healthcare providers. The Company’s team of healthcare, legal, and technical professionals, in conjunction with its proprietary AI-enabled software, help hospitals and physicians improve claims processing time and increase overall collections. Aspirion’s product suite is centered on complex claims, an umbrella category for third party liability claims related to non-traditional payors, and revenue integrity, which addresses clinically complex claims with traditional medical payors.

“We are very excited to enter into this partnership with Linden and leverage Linden’s deep healthcare experience, relationships, and strategic support to execute against our shared value creation plan and better serve our clients,” said Jason Erdell, CEO of Aspirion.

Kam Shah, Partner at Linden, said “We congratulate Jason and the entire Aspirion management team on their collective roles in building a highly regarded provider of specialized RCM solutions whose differentiated capabilities help hospital systems and providers navigate a difficult operating environment characterized by increasing denial rates and growing complexity in patient clinical records. We look forward to supporting Aspirion and positioning the Company for continued growth, particularly through strategic investments in technology, product, and M&A.”

“We are proud to have helped Aspirion create its industry-leading complex claims RCM platform through investing in people, technology and strategic acquisitions,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chairman and CEO of Aquiline Capital Partners. “We look forward to continuing as investors and, alongside Linden, supporting Aspirion through its planned next phase of growth.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Baird is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP is serving as legal counsel to Aquiline and Aspirion. Guggenheim Securities, LLC and Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., are serving as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Linden. Twin Brook Capital Partners is providing debt financing for the transaction.

About Aspirion Aspirion, headquartered in Columbus, Ga., helps hospitals and physicians recover otherwise lost claims revenue from Motor Vehicle Accidents, Workers’ Compensation, Veterans Affairs, and TRICARE as well as out-of-state Medicaid, Medicaid eligibility, underpayments, and denials. Aspirion’s experienced team of healthcare, legal, and technical professionals combined with industry-leading technology platforms help ensure that providers receive their Complex RCM revenue so that providers, hospitals, and their staff can focus on patient care. The Company serves over 140 clients across 45 states, including 40% of the largest health systems in the U.S.

About Linden Capital Partners Linden Capital Partners is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country’s largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Linden invests in middle market platforms in the medical products, specialty distribution, pharmaceutical, and services segments of healthcare. Since its founding, Linden has invested in over 40 healthcare companies encompassing over 200 total transactions. The firm has raised over $6 billion in limited partner commitments since inception. For more information, please visit www.lindenllc.com.

About Aquiline Capital Partners Aquiline Capital Partners, founded in 2005, is a private investment firm based in New York and London investing in companies across financial services and technology, healthcare, and business services. The firm had $8.7 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2022. For more information about Aquiline, its investment professionals, and its portfolio companies, please visit www.aquiline.com.

Media Contacts Katie Kornel for Linden Capital Partners info@lindenllc.com 312-506-5600

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Altor invests in smart energy platform Tibber

Altor

Altor Fund V (“Altor”) has signed an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Tibber, the Norwegian smart energy provider and platform. The investment in Tibber has been done through acquisitions from existing shareholders, on the back of Tibber’s $100M Series C round in March 2022.

Since its inception in 2016, Tibber has been on a journey to assist consumers in lowering their energy bills, making more intelligent decisions around their electricity consumption, and empowering them to use energy smarter. At the beginning of the year Tibber had reached over 400,000 household customers in Norway, Sweden, and Germany and is looking to expand further within Europe.

As the hub in a smart home, Tibber connects independent and sustainable energy sources, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, with smart hardware such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers, batteries, and heat pumps to make electricity production and consumption smarter, in addition to providing load balancing to the grid.

The investment fits Altor’s broader involvement in the green transition, with recent investments including Vianode and Svea Solar. Altor will support Tibber on its journey to become the leading home energy platform.

Herman Korsgaard, Director at Altor, commented:

“Tibber is a unique and rapidly growing company in the consumer-enabled green transition space. We are incredibly impressed by the position and platform the founders have created and are convinced Tibber will play an increasingly important role in providing renewable energy and smart solutions for households across Europe.”

For more information, please contact:
Herman Korsgaard at Altor, herman.korsgaard@altor.com, +47 934 00 332

About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised some EUR 8.3 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 5 billion in more than 85 companies. The investments have been made in medium-sized predominantly Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are OX2, Vianode, Svea Solar, and Nordic Climate Group. For more information visit www.altor.com

About Tibber
Tibber is the smart digital energy provider founded in 2016 by the Norwegian Edgeir Vårdal Aksnes and the Swede Daniel Lindén.

The Tibber app replaces traditional utilities with a digital energy deal and technology for smarter consumption of energy. Tibber’s vision is to make sustainable energy consumption simple and affordable for all households, and their mission is to reduce the residential energy consumption for European households by 20 %.

This is made possible through their app that provides consumers with real-time analytics into energy usage, and that can be paired with a large variety of smart home devices to reduce energy consumption at home. For more information visit www.tibber.com

Author: Katarina Karlsson
Date: 2022.06.21
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Play and InfraVia Capital Partners join forces to provide 6 million Polish homes with fiber broadband connectivity in a new open access wholesale model.

InfraVia

On June 19, 2022 Play Group, a leading fixed, digital television and mobile convergent player in Poland, operating Play and UPC brands, together with InfraVia Capital Partners, a leading independent private equity firm specializing in infrastructure and technology investments, signed an agreement which paves the way for providing access to high-speed connectivity to 6 million homes in Poland, using existing infrastructure and through further significant investments. The network will be available for all telecommunication operators in a wholesale, open-access model.

Upon the preliminary agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, Infravia Capital Partners will acquire 50% of shares of Play Group’s subsidiary, operating under the name FiberForce, for PLN 1,775 billion. At transaction close, which is currently scheduled for the end of 2022, Play/UPC will transfer its existing HFC and FTTx asset base of 3.7 million homes passed to FiberForce. On top of that, FiberForce seeks to build more than 2 million additional fiber optic connections. FiberForce will make its network infrastructure available to other telecommunications operators (including Play and UPC) in an open and
non-discriminatory access model, to maximize take up of the built infrastructure by consumers.

Jean Marc Harion, CEO Play and UPC: ‘This partnership is yet another milestone to strengthen our nationwide infrastructure leadership, allowing millions of new customers in Poland to benefit from superfast Internet. Due to its open-reach wholesale model, we want to set new standards for broadband connectivity access and secure everyone freedom of choice. We hope this new investment will significantly help narrow the digital gap and deliver even more innovation to the benefit of our customers, society and the economy.’

Vincent Levita, CEO and Founder of InfraVia: ‘We are extremely happy to develop our partnership with iliad Group in this joint-venture with Play Group. This will allow us to build a key asset in a growing sector with a leading partner.’

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