FirstMark Secures $1 Bln in Financing for Expansion (Update2)
By Jad Mouawad
London, June 8 (Bloomberg) -- FirstMark Communications Europe SA, a Luxembourg-based phone network company, said it secured more than $1 billion in financing to fund European investments in radio technology and high-speed Internet access.
The funding consists of $600 million in private equity financing -- the largest-ever in Europe's phone industry -- and 480 million euros ($460 million) in debt financing.
Closely held FirstMark will compete with phone companies such as Deutsche Telekom AG and Telefonica SA in providing fast Web services to homes and businesses. It will offer the services using radio technology that reaches customers without the need for the wires that now connect users to local networks.
The so-called fixed wireless technology covers distances of up to 5 kilometers and can be used where it is difficult or expensive to lay cable or optical fiber.
``It's not going to be a mass market product -- it's got its uses in that you don't have to dig up streets to lay cables,'' said Sean Johnstone, an analyst at SG Securities in London.
Johnstone said he expects the technology to be deployed in business parks and other places where companies want high-speed access with lower network costs.
FirstMark has already started building such networks in Germany, Spain and Portugal and has teamed up with Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux SA to bid for a license in France.
Several countries in Europe will be selling fixed wireless licenses. The U.K. is expected to sell them in autumn and companies such as Energis Plc, Britain's largest carrier of Internet traffic, have said they will bid for the permits.
The technology could be popular with companies that target small and medium businesses or households that want to access data, voice calls or movies online but aren't connected to high- speed lines and can't afford to build a link.
Radio technology is already in use in the U.S. and companies such as Teligent Inc., provide telephone and data services on wireless links. The technology is often used by smaller telecommunication companies to reduce their dependence on the large national operators.
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe led the investor group, which also included ABN Amro and Groupe Arnault. The senior debt financing was arranged and underwritten by Deutsche Bank AG. |
