Telia Group has sold its entity Telia International Carrier to Polhem Infra. The divested company will operate as a standalone company going forward. International Carrier is the world’s #1 Internet provider, active in 35 countries with customers in 120 countries and was acquired for more than 900 million Euros.
International Carrier is a fully owned subsidiary of Telia Company, headquarted in Stockholm. They started to build their network in 1993, when their Autonomous System, AS1299, was allocated. Unlike most of its competitors, International Carrier has grown organically ever since with now 540 employees. The network stretches 67,000 kms across Europe, the US and Asia and connects directly to more than 2,000 wholesale customers in more than 120 countries.
AS1299 is currently the #1 ranked global IP backbone and with more than 450 local access partners around the world International Carrier is the backbone for your business, wherever you are. From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, International Carrier has become connectivity partner of choice to the world’s largest content providers, operators and enterprises. In the past, the network laid the very foundations of the Internet revolution and today it is enabling digitalization throughout business and society.
Polhem Infra invests in and manages infrastructure assets. The company was founded 2019 and is jointly owned by the Swedish State Pension Funds: AP1, AP3 and AP4. Polhem Infra focuses on direct investments in unlisted Swedish or Nordic infrastructure companies in the private sector and public sector. The company focuses on investments in infrastructure that are close and crucial to the society such as energy, transport, renewable electricity generation and digital infrastructure. The goal for Polhem Infra is to become the best partner for both public and private actors who invest in or manage infrastructure assets. A prerequisite for partnerships is that the actors share their view on sustainability and act in a way that is sustainable socially, environmentally and financially.
International Carrier is one of the largest digital infrastructure companies in the world. This digital infrastructure is a national asset that Polhem Infra will now own. Carlsquare’s knowledge and energy have helped us greatly during the process and we are very pleased about the close collaboration we had with Anders Elgemyr’s team and with Telia, to be able to complete this large and important transaction together”, says Mikael Lundin, CEO of Polhem Infra.
Carlsquare acted as the M&A advisor to Polhem Infra. International Carrier can now fully utilize its unique position as the global leader in IP transit, with all global carriers and companies in the world as clients, from superscalers as the FANG-companies down to the local Internet Service Provider.
Polhem Infra was further advised by ICE, who acted as debt financing advisor and DLA Piper as legal advisor.
