CMS advises Hyperoptic on sale to KKR

International law firm CMS has advised Hyperoptic Ltd, one of the UK’s largest residential gigabit broadband provider, and its management shareholders on its strategic sale to KKR, a leading global investment firm. Hyperoptic will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Dana Tobak, CBE and Executive Chairman Boris Ivanovic.

Founded in 2011, Hyperoptic is one of the UK’s largest and fastest-growing gigabit network providers and a leader in “full” fibre optic technology. Working with more than 200 property developers, Hyperoptic is live in 43 towns and cities, with gigabit broadband services passing almost 400,000 homes and businesses.

The investment by KKR will fuel Hyperoptic’s ambition to reach five million homes and businesses by 2024.

Dana Tobak, Chief Executive Officer for Hyperoptic, explains: “We are confident that with the support of KKR and their significant expertise enabling high-growth businesses, our ambitious infrastructure plans to build our hyperfast network out to two million homes by 2021 and five million by 2024 will be realised.

“The CMS team were integral to the success of this deal, providing critical advice to our management team and working seamlessly to deliver this deal over a challenging timeframe.”

London partner Anthony Waller led the CMS team, supported by Jamie Burgess, Joe Ladusans, Stuart Blythe, Mark Fisher, Mark Joscelyne, Anne Chitan, Jacqueline Vallat and Zoe Loftus-Bell.

Anthony Waller comments: “We are proud to have supported our client on this important investment. Fuelled by the growing demand for full-fibre services in the UK, Hyperoptic has grown to become one of the UK’s leading fibre broadband provider. With KKR’s investment, we are confident it will continue on this strong growth path and realise its ambitious plans.

“This was a great demonstration of our market-leading TMT infra expertise and a significant team effort, involving a wide range of TMT, Infra and Corporate specialists to deliver this complex deal for Hyperoptic.”