Zegona hails Vodafone Spain tie-up for fibre JV with Orange and GIC

Mon, 04th Aug 2025 13:32

(Alliance News) - Zegona Communications PLC on Monday said Vodafone Spain has partnered with GIC Private Markets Pte Ltd and MasOrange SA to form a new fibre company.

Zegona, a London-based investor in European telecommunications and media, was a cash shell back in May 2024, when it bought Vodafone Holdings Europe SLU (the Spanish arm of Newbury, England-based Vodafone PLC) for EUR5 billion.

As of Monday, Vodafone Spain and MasOrange SA, part of Paris-based telecommunications firm Orange, have agreed to establish a Spanish joint venture called FibreCo. The two subsidiaries have a binding contract with GIC, the investment arm of the Singaporean government, which activates an agreement signed back in January.

FibreCo will combine Vodafone and MasOrange's existing infrastructure into a "network covering 12 million premises across Spain" and serving around 4.5 million customers. The partners claim it will be Europe's "most advanced" fibre-to-the-home network, providing "leading high-speed" internet services.

The project's capital structure includes more than EUR5 billion in mostly investment-grade net debt. This is meant to retain equity whilst boosting upfront proceeds, of which Vodafone SA expects to claim EUR1.4 billion.

GIC has agreed to acquire around 25% interest in FibreCo, after which MasOrange will be the majority 58% shareholder, and Vodafone Spain will own the remaining 17%. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Separately, Vodafone Spain has a 37% stake in FiberPass, a joint venture with Telefonica SA, which began operating back in March. Monetisation of this stake is "well advanced", Vodafone Spain said, with a third-party investor expected to join the project.

"The combination of FiberPass and FibreCo will give guaranteed access to a future-proof, all fibre, national network with attractive economic terms and will enable substantial cost savings across the business," said Zegona Chief Executive Eamonn O'Hare on Monday.

"Today's transaction leaves Zegona well positioned to execute a shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy which we expect to announce in the next few months."

Zegona shares were 8.4% higher at 942.74 pence on Monday morning in London, for a market capitalisation of GBP7.20 billion. The stock's value has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Back in July, Zegona said it has returned Vodafone Spain to growth as the Spanish company posted a rise in first-quarter revenue for the first time since 2022. Since the takeover, Zegona posted GBP3.6 billion in revenue for the 15 months that ended March 31, compared with none reported in 2023.

By Holly Munks, Alliance News reporter

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