KKR is in the race for Dstelecom, Portugal's wholesale fibre network — and the price could hit €400 million
KKR and Vauban Infrastructure Partners are the final contenders for a majority stake in Dstelecom, the Braga-born fibre operator reaching one million homes.
Dstelecom, the wholesale fibre operator born in Braga, has reached the final stretch of a sale drawing serious money: US giant KKR and France’s Vauban Infrastructure Partners are among the final contenders for a majority stake, in a deal that could value the company at €300 to €400 million.
What exactly is for sale?
The 54% held by Cube Infrastructure Managers, the fund that backed the company a decade ago. The remaining 46% belongs to the dst group, the Gonçalves Teixeira family conglomerate that turned a Braga construction firm into an engineering and technology platform. Dstelecom’s network now reaches about one million homes, mostly in places nobody else wanted to wire — coverage details are on the company’s official site.
The process has taken a few turns. In June, binding offers pointed to FastFiber and Vauban; the final race now pits Vauban against KKR, one of the world’s biggest investors in digital infrastructure.
Why is wholesale fibre worth so much?
Because it is exactly the kind of asset infrastructure funds love: long contracts, predictable revenue, and a network retail operators must rent to reach their customers. The timing helps too — Portuguese companies have started the year more profitable and under less financial strain, and solid domestic assets have rarely looked this appetising.
What remains is the auction’s verdict — and whether the fibre built to connect Portugal’s forgotten interior ends up run from New York or Paris.
By Beatriz Mota
Image: Dstelecom
