The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners to Acquire Com Hem

London and Stockholm - The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners today announced they have signed an agreement to acquire Swedish cable TV operator Com Hem from its current owner EQT. Financial details were not disclosed.

Com Hem is the leading cable TV operator in Sweden. It provides the broadest television offering to over 1.4 million households in Sweden, including 205,000 digital TV subscribers and offers broadband internet and telephony to 195,000 and 62,000 customers respectively. The company has a unique triple-play service branded Com Bo which combines television, broadband and telephone services at highly competitive rates. Com Hem is headquartered in Stockholm and employs 630 people.

Benoît Colas, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group said, "We believe Com Hem is a fantastic cable TV company with outstanding growth opportunities and we are pleased to be investing in it alongside our partners at Providence. The management team led by Gunnar Asp has an astonishing track record of growth and value creation and we look forward to working closely with them to continue to build Com Hem. We intend to further invest in expanding and upgrading Com Hem's multimedia and data communication services for customers."

Jorg Mohaupt, Director at Providence Equity Partners said, "We believe Com Hem is one of the best cable assets in Europe. With 36% of the household television market, 60% of the household cable market and an exceptional service offering, the company has a strong competitive position and significant opportunities for further growth. We look forward to working with Carlyle and Gunnar Asp and his team to further develop Com Hem and enhance value at the company."

The Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners both have extensive experience in the European cable industry. Carlyle and Providence jointly own Casema, the Dutch cable TV operator and Carlyle recently sold its investment in Bredbandsbolaget, another Swedish broadband operator to Telenor. Globally, 30% of Carlyle's investments are in the telecommunications and media sector. Providence specializes in equity investments in media, communications and information companies. In addition to Casema, Providence's European investments include owning with partners Kabel Deutschland GmbH, Germany's largest cable operator, and Grupo Corporativo ONO, Spain's second largest broadband provider, which Providence invested in through ONO's acquisition of Auna TLC. Providence announced last week an agreement to acquire with partners TDC, a Danish-based provider of fixed line, mobile and internet services in Northern and Central Europe.

Carlyle and Providence were advised by Goldman Sachs International and Setterwalls.