One of the largest single foreign direct investments in South Eastern Europe

London and Amsterdam, 04 March 2019 – BC Partners, a leading international investment firm, today announced the completion of the acquisition of majority ownership of United Group B.V. (“United Group”) from KKR, following the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. KKR and United Group’s management team will retain a substantial minority stake.

Founded in Serbia, and headquartered in Amsterdam, United Group is the leading independent media and communication services provider across South East Europe. Through significant investments in digital infrastructure, content and proprietary technology, it provides market-leading services to its customers across the region. Over the past 18 years the Group has expanded its presence through both organic growth and acquisitions, now employing over 4,400 staff and providing services to over 1.8 million homes.

Nikos Stathopoulos, Partner at BC Partners said: “We are delighted to have completed this transaction with United Group’s management team and KKR, and look forward to supporting the company’s next phase of growth. United Group is a high-quality asset, with defensive growth characteristics, leading infrastructure, differentiated content and a growing base of loyal customers. Its attractive and integrated business model and regional leadership position provide an excellent platform for further organic growth and strategic acquisitions across Europe.”

Since its investment in 2014, KKR has supported United Group’s efforts to build the company into the leading provider of communications and media services in South Eastern Europe. United Group’s fibre and cable networks have the largest presence in the region, covering 1.8 million homes which benefit from broadband speeds over 2.4x higher than local peers and high quality local and international content.

Jean-Pierre Saad, Managing Director at KKR said: “We are proud of the many achievements of United Group over the last five years. It is a great example of a truly convergent operator across communications and media with market leading product innovation and services. We will remain closely committed to the further development of United Group and are looking forward to working with BC Partners and the management team to further strengthen the company’s growth.”

Morgan Stanley and LionTree acted as advisers to BC Partners while Credit Suisse advised United Group.

Media contact:
BC Partners – Prosek Partners
Pro-BCPartners@prosek.com
+44 (0)20 8323 0475

KKR
Alastair Elwen
Finsbury
alastair.elwen@finsbury.com
+44 (0)20 7251 3801

About BC Partners

BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €20 billion of assets under management in private equity and private credit. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for three decades. Today, BC Partners executives operate across markets as an integrated team through the firm’s offices in North America and Europe.
Since inception, BC Partners has completed 105 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €130 billion and is currently investing its tenth private equity fund. For more information, please visit www.bcpartners.com.

About KKR 

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About United Group

Founded in 2000, United Group is the leading multi-play telecoms and media provider in South East Europe, providing customers with a full range of telecommunications services. It has the broadest network coverage in the region and offers customers an unrivalled selection of content, from local offerings to the best selection from across the globe. United Group operates in six countries (through brands such as SBB, Telemach, and United Media, and channels such as SportKlub, Nova TV and N1TV) plus a global OTT service, reaching 3.74 million subscribers in 1.8 million homes, employing 4,400 people.

United Group’s international investors include KKR and now BC Partners as the majority investor.

www.united.group/about/

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 18, 2018– Altice Europe and KKR, a leading global investment firm, today jointly announce the creation of Hivory, the largest independent telecoms tower company in Franceand third largest European tower company. The creation of Hivory follows the successful completion of the transaction announced in June, of KKR’s acquisition of a 49.99% stake in a portfolio of more than 10,000 of Altice’s French towers.

Hivory is a high-quality telecoms infrastructure provider with a nationwide presence, benefiting from more than 10,000 strategically located sites with a diversified portfolio of ground-based towers and rooftops. The company is focused on serving the growing infrastructure needs for mobile operators to provide connectivity to all parts of the French population, meeting continued strong demand for data consumption and increased coverage.

Through Hivory, Altice and KKR will proactively seek to partner with all mobile operators to develop their coverage and densification objectives in France, through the build-to-suit of new towers and facilitating colocation needs in the French mobile market.

The company will seek to contribute to the development of French technology infrastructure and innovation, supporting telecom players on the eve of the ‘New Deal’ for French mobile and 5G roll out.

Alain Weill, CEO of Altice Europe, and Vincent Policard, Member at KKR in the European Infrastructure team, jointly said: “Altice and KKR are excited about the prospects for Hivory in improving mobile connectivity in France and building the telecommunications infrastructure critical for modern society. Hivory will benefit from strong market tailwinds, as well as the sector expertise and operational resources which Altice and KKR will provide through our partnership.”

-ends-

About Altice Europe

Altice Europe (ATC & ATCB), listed on Euronext Amsterdam, is a convergent leader in telecoms, content, media, entertainment and advertising. Altice delivers innovative, customer-centric products and solutions that connect and unlock the limitless potential of its over 30 million customers over fiber networks and mobile broadband. Altice is also a provider of enterprise digital solutions to millions of business customers. The company innovates with technology, research and development and enables people to live out their passions by providing original content, high-quality and compelling TV shows, and international, national and local news channels. Altice delivers live broadcast premium sports events and enables its customers to enjoy the most well-known media and entertainment.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business.

References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181218005696/en/

Source: KKR

Media Contacts
For Altice:
Arthur Dreyfuss
Head of Communications, Altice Europe
Phone: +41 79 946 4931
Email: arthur.dreyfuss@altice.net

For KKR:
Alastair Elwen Finsbury
Phone: +44(0)20 7251 3801
Email: alastair.elwen@finsbury.com

Olivier Blain
Adding Value Conseils
Email: ob@addingvalueconseils.com
Phone: +33 6 72 28 29 20

Investment in the Philippines’ Leading Technology Company Supports Greater Financial Inclusion and Access to Mobile Internet for Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 4, 2018– PLDT Inc. (NYSE: PHI|PSE: TEL), the leading telecommunications and digital services provider in the Philippines, global investment firm KKR (NYSE: KKR), and Tencent Holdings Ltd.(0700.HK), a leading provider of internet services in China, announced today the signing of agreements under which investors led by KKR and Tencent will separately subscribe to a total of up to US$175 million worth of newly-issued shares in Voyager Innovations, giving them a substantial minority stake in the Philippines’ leading digital technology company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181004005328/en/

Upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected within the fourth quarter of 2018, PLDT will remain as the majority shareholder of Voyager Innovations. The agreements also contain provisions for Voyager Innovations to issue additional shares to other investors which, if this were to occur, would reduce PLDT’s ownership to less than 50% while still remaining as the largest shareholder.

The new external funding in Voyager Innovations marks the largest investment to date in a Philippine technology company. With the global expertise and fresh capital from the new investors, Voyager Innovations will enable greater access to mobile payments and the internet as a whole for the country’s population.

Voyager Innovations’ mission is to accelerate digital and financial inclusion in the Philippines and enable the broader Filipino population to participate in the digital economy. The company’s award-winning technology platforms support the following digital services:

• PayMaya, the most recognized prepaid payment wallet service in the Philippines, enabling Filipinos to shop online, pay bills, buy airtime load, and send money;
• PayMaya Business, the largest mobile acquiring service in the Philippines, enabling enterprises of all sizes to accept digital payments;
• Smart Padala, the largest mobile-based remittance network in the Philippines;
• Lendr, the largest digital lending platform in the Philippines; and,
• freenet, the most popular rewards app for free access to the internet and apps in the Philippines.

Manuel V. Pangilinan, Chairman, President and CEO of PLDT, said: “Having global powerhouses such as KKR and Tencentas investors in Voyager Innovations demonstrates not only their confidence in the company’s ability to execute its vision, but also their confidence in the Philippine technology industry as a whole.”

Orlando B. Vea, President and CEO of Voyager Innovations, said: “This is a watershed moment not only for Voyager Innovations but also for the Philippines. With this investment by KKR and Tencent, we will trigger an inflection point in digital adoption and financial inclusion in the country.”

Terence Lee, Director on KKR’s Southeast Asia team, said: “We are excited about Voyager Innovations and to further invest behind online payments leaders in emerging markets. Voyager Innovations provides critical digital and financial services to millions of Filipinos looking to join the digital economy for work and play. We look forward to leveraging our industry expertise and resources to help enhance the company’s mission of financial inclusion and accelerate its growth at a time when the digital economy is more important than ever.”

KKR’s investment in Voyager Innovations is being funded from KKR Asian Fund III. The investment is KKR’s first private equity investment in the Philippines and is part of the firm’s strategy to invest in high-growth markets that the firm believes can benefit from a rapid increase in technology adoption. Other investments KKR has made in the technology and fintech sectors include Go-Jek (Indonesia’s leading on-demand mobile platform for ride hailing, food delivery, and mobile payments), Suishou Technology (one of China’s largest personal finance management platforms) and First Data (global payment technology and services solutions provider with a presence in 118 countries).

James Mitchell, Chief Strategy Officer of Tencent, said: “Voyager Innovations connects the growing smartphone population in the Philippines to online payments and financial services. Tencent is glad to support Voyager Innovations and to advance financial inclusion.”

The foregoing investment in Voyager Innovations is not subject to the compulsory merger notification regime under the Philippine Competition Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations. In addition, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippines’ central bank, confirmed that it interposes no objection to the investment.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Voyager Innovations. Latham & Watkins and Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos are acting as legal counsel to PLDT and Voyager Innovations. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan are acting as legal counsel to KKR and Tencent.

ABOUT PLDT

PLDT is the leading telecommunications provider in the Philippines. Through its principal business groups–fixed line and wireless–PLDT offers a wide range of telecommunications services across the Philippines’ most extensive fiber optic backbone and fixed line, and mobile network. PLDT is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE: TEL) and its American Depositary Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:PHI). PLDT has one of the largest market capitalizations among Philippine listed companies. Further information can be obtained by visiting the web at www.pldt.com.

ABOUT VOYAGER INNOVATIONS

Voyager Innovations is the leading technology company in the Philippines focused on developing customer-centric emerging market platforms in the areas of digital payments, digital finance, and marketing technologies. For more information, visit www.voyagerinnovation.com.

ABOUT KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate and credit, with strategic manager partnerships that manage hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns for its fund investors by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside the capital it manages for fund investors and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

ABOUT TENCENT

Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Our social products WeChat and QQ link our users to a rich digital content catalogue including games, video, music and books. Our proprietary targeting technology helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our infrastructure services including payment, security, cloud and artificial intelligence create differentiated offerings and support our partners’ business growth. Tencent invests heavily in people and innovation, enabling us to evolve with the Internet.

Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (0700.HK) are traded on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181004005328/en/

Source: KKR

INVESTORS:
PLDT
Anabelle L. Chua
alchua@pldt.com.ph
Melissa V. Vergel de Dios
mvvergeldedios@pldt.com.ph
Voyager Innovations
Duane Williams
investor@voyagerinnovation.com
KKR
Craig Larson
investor-relations@kkr.com
TENCENT
Jane Yip
janeyip@tencent.com
PH Cheung
phcheung@tencent.com
MEDIA:
PLDT
Ramon R. Isberto
rrisberto@pldt.com.ph
Voyager Innovations
Nick B. Wilwayco
pr@voyagerinnovation.com
KKR
Cara Major
Cara.Major@KKR.com
David Katz
David.Katz@KKR.com
TENCENT
Jane Yip
janeyip@tencent.com
PH Cheung
phcheung@tencent.com

Funds will support portfolio development and expansion of tower network
• Bank of Ireland leads lenders alongside AIB
• Backed by infrastructure investor Infravia Capital Partners

Cignal, Ireland’s fastest growing provider of telecommunications infrastructure, has today announced it has refinanced and expanded its financing facility, which will provide funding to support the expansion of its network of telecoms and broadband communications towers.

Cignal’s acquisition of Coillte’s tower portfolio in 2015 was supported by an initial €31.5m facility. This is now being refinanced and expanded to €65m, providing additional funding to be invested in new telecoms and broadband communications towers to address coverage blackspots throughout Ireland.
Bank of Ireland, who have been a lender to Cignal since the company was set up in 2015, acted as lead arranger for the new facilities along with AIB who are now a joint lender to the business.
Cignal recently announced that it had spent €15m on acquiring and building new telecoms and broadband communications towers in the past 18 months, giving it a portfolio in over 500 key locations across urban and rural Ireland.

Cignal’s CEO Colin Cunningham said:
“We are very pleased to have refinanced and enlarged our banking facility to ensure that we have capital to support our expansion plans. Having invested €15m in acquisitions and new tower developments in the past 18 months, the new bank facility will support the next phase in our growth plans’’

Cignal’s Chairman Donal O’Shaughnessy said:
‘’This development shows our commitment to provide valuable infrastructure to help provide telecoms and broadband services to local communities. The support shown by both Bank of Ireland and AIB has provided us with a flexible and enlarged facility thus ensuring we can continue to build telecoms infrastructure in the areas where it is needed most.’’
Maurice Healy, Director, Corporate Banking, Bank of Ireland said
“Lending to high quality Irish infrastructure assets is an attractive proposition and we are delighted to act as lead arranger in this enlarged lending facility for Cignal. Given the clear demand for enhanced and expanded mobile and broadband coverage across Ireland we are very comfortable with the expansion plans that Cignal have outlined to us, which will help improve coverage and speeds for mobile and broadband users across Ireland.”
The refinancing has been supported by its majority shareholder Infravia Capital Partners, a specialist infrastructure investor managing over €4bn in assets. In Ireland Infravia has acquired hospital group the Mater Private and nursing homes operator CareChoice.

Infravia Partner, Bruno Candes said:
“Infravia Capital Partners are delighted that these new facilities are now in place to support the continued growth trajectory of Cignal since we invested to support the Coillte transaction in 2015. The Cignal team have a clear roadmap to build its portfolio of towers and Infravia and both Bank of Ireland and AIB have shown their commitment to supporting this expansion”

Cignal now has 18% of the Irish market for infrastructure supporting mobile, fixed wireless broadband communications and broadcast services, with a customer base that includes all the main mobile services providers in Ireland, the emergency services and FM radio stations. Cignal is committed to further investment in the construction of new towers, and acquisitions as the market continues to consolidate.

For further information, please contact:
• Doug Keatinge, Murray, +353-1-4980379 / +353-86-0374163 / dkeatinge@murraygroup.ie

About Cignal
Cignal is Ireland’s newest provider of telecommunications infrastructure. It launched its business in 2015 with the acquisition of a portfolio of 400 tower from Irish state forestry company Coillte, and through further acquisitions and expansion now has a portfolio of over 500 towers. Cignal specialises in maximising the efficient use of tower infrastructure through hosting the equipment of multiple operators on its sites, thereby reducing costs for users and reducing the proliferation of unnecessary towers. Cignal’s main shareholders are specialist infrastructure investor Infravia Capital Partners and telecoms infrastructure veteran Donal O’Shaughnessy who also serves as Chairman of the company. The company has ambitious plans for further investment to expand its network and improve mobile and broadband coverage throughout Ireland in areas poorly served today. www.cignal.ie

Oakley Capital Private Equity II (“Fund II”) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement to sell its stake in Damovo Group (“Damovo”), a leading independent European unified communications and collaboration (“UC&C”) company, to UK Atlanta Holdings LLC. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval,  values Damovo at up to €140 million, comprising an upfront consideration of €115 million and further consideration of up to €25 million, dependent on Damovo’s financial performance in the year to 31 January 2019.

Oakley invested in Damovo in 2015, in a proprietary deal that was sourced via Oakley’s network of business founders and management teams, as is typical for Oakley investments. Matthew Riley, the successful UK entrepreneur and founder of Daisy, another Oakley portfolio company, identified the opportunity to acquire Damovo in a complex carve out. The underlying business units which were in need of new investment, were consolidated into one combined and cohesive company.

Under Oakley’s ownership, Damovo has been transformed into a recognised European specialist in delivering and managing critical UC&C solutions for enterprise and public-sector organisations. The business has returned to organic growth by winning and delivering large, multi-year managed services contracts, and this has been supported by the integration of three strategic acquisitions. This growth, as well as a more efficient group structure put in place by the experienced management team, has lead to the business more than doubling EBITDA since Oakley’s initial investment.

David Till, Senior Partner at Oakley Capital Private Equity, commented:

“We would like to thank Matthew Riley, Glen Williams, Stuart Hall and the team for their tireless work in transforming the business over the past three years. Damovo is now a very well-respected and competitive player in the growing European market. It has the highest levels of vendor accreditation and has won a number of awards for its excellent customer service.  We are proud of the part we have played in its evolution, with the business ideally positioned for its next phase.”

A team from EY led by Richard Harding and Olivier Wolf carried out vendor due diligence services for Damovo.

Montagu Private Equity (“Montagu”), a leading pan-European private equity firm, and CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) today announce that they have reached an agreement for Montagu to acquire Wireless Logic Group (“Wireless Logic” or “the company”), Europe’s leading smart connectivity platform provider, from CVC’s Growth Fund. The Wireless Logic sale represents the first exit for CVC’s Growth Fund. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Wireless Logic was established in the UK in 2000 and provides businesses with specialist Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) platform services across mobile, satellite, low-power wireless, and fixed line networks. The company’s services enable smart connectivity for applications and devices, creating two-way communication across secure private networks. The platform gives organisations of all sizes the ability to access highly complex and secure IT infrastructure with zero capital cost, thus creating unrivalled opportunities for new and innovative IoT solutions.

Today, Wireless Logic is a market leader in IoT and M2M platform managed services in Europe, with over 2,500 customers and over 3.1 million subscriptions. It has the technology, scale and geographical breadth to provide comprehensive connectivity solutions to a large number of customers and applications across Europe with a global reach. Headquartered in Hurley, Berkshire, the company operates across Europe with country offices in the UK, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain.

During the CVC Growth Fund’s period of investment, Wireless Logic has continued its impressive organic growth trajectory, supplemented by several strategic acquisitions. Montagu intends to work with the management team to continue to drive growth, leveraging Montagu’s experience, network and resources to further strengthen the business.

Oliver Tucker, Co-founder and Group CEO of Wireless Logic, said: “We are delighted to welcome Montagu into the Wireless Logic Group. Under the stewardship of the CVC Growth Fund, we have continued our double-digit organic growth which has been complemented by four acquisitions in the UK, Germany and Denmark, with each introducing key new technologies and skillsets into the group business. As we thank CVC for its partnership and counsel, the group board is looking forward to a bright, ambitious and exciting future with Montagu as we set about continuing our strategy to make Wireless Logic Group into a truly world-class platform offering.”

Ed Shuckburgh, Director of Montagu, said: “We are highly impressed by the quality and achievements of the management team, who have founded and developed the business to become Europe’s leading M2M and IoT connectivity platform provider in under 20 years. We look forward to partnering with them to support the company’s continued expansion to meet the rapidly growing demand for smart connectivity solutions.”

Aaron Dupuis, Senior Managing Director of CVC, said: “We have had a tremendous partnership with Oliver and his team. We have been proud to be part of the continued success of Wireless Logic and wish the team all the best as they embark on the next phase of the journey.”

The company and the CVC Growth Fund were advised by William Blair, Fried Frank, Deloitte and OC&C. Montagu was advised by Arma Partners, Morgan Stanley and Freshfields.