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Regulatory green light given for acquisition of wholesale telecoms network by investment group.
The final stake in Enet held by Granahan McCourt has been acquired by the Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF).
IIF previously acquired a majority stake in Enet in August 2017.
In October, Siliconrepublic.com reported that the IIF agreed to acquire the remaining 22pc of Enet from Granahan McCourt, the company led by US businessman and telecoms mogul David C McCourt.
The last mile?
Granahan McCourt is the final bidder for the National Broadband Plan (NBP), Ireland’s €1bn State-backed plan to bring connectivity to more than 540,000 people.
Enet is one of a number of firms providing services to the final bidding consortium for the NBP, National Broadband Ireland, which is led by Granahan McCourt. Other firms supplying this consortium include Actavo, Nokia, Kelly Group and KN Group.
A recent report by auditor Peter Smyth cleared former Communications Minister Denis Naughten, TD, and McCourt of tainting the NBP process regarding meetings and dinners they held. Smyth concluded that there was no evidence the process was tainted by these meetings or that any sensitive information the Minister was privy to that would be beneficial to the final bidder was given.
The IIF, a fund managed by AMP Capital and Irish Life Investment Managers, manages capital for 30 institutional investors, 29 of which are Irish pension funds, trusts and investment managers. To date, the IIF controls more than €500m of investments across energy, telecoms, tourism and healthcare in Ireland.
Enet, which employs 100 people, operates fixed and wireless backhaul infrastructure across Ireland, including the 94 metropolitan area networks (MANs) it operates on behalf of the Irish Government. It works with more than 70 telecoms operators.
