Norwegian investment company Verdane has bought a 50% stake in Telenor Connexion, establishing joint ownership with Telenor.

The transaction values Telenor Connexion at SEK7.5bn. The partnership is intended to realise value from Telenor Connexion’s market position while providing the company with access to long-term growth capital.

Over the past 25 years, Telenor Connexion has built a strong global position in managed IoT services and connectivity for large, global customers. The market is expected to grow at double digit rates towards 2030. Today, the company is a top ten player globally outside China, with 31 million IoT SIM cards in operation and deliveries to more than 200 countries and territories.

“We have bold ambitions in managed IoT and, with Verdane as a partner, we gain additional power to realise them in a much more capital efficient manner,” said Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, CEO of Telenor. “At the same time, this transaction clearly demonstrates Telenor’s ability to create value.”

Telenor Connexion delivers IoT for everything from cars and water pumps to robotic lawn mowers. Telenor recently consolidated its Nordic IoT operations under one brand structure, with Telenor Connexion as the specialised IoT unit operating under Telenor IoT as the portfolio brand (iotm2mcouncil.org/iot-library/news/iot-newsdesk/telenor-consolidates-nordic-iot-operations/).

“With this structure in place, we are well positioned for the next phase,” said Fasmer. “Telenor will remain a long-term, strategic owner, and we will continue to put the full industrial strength of the group behind Telenor Connexion. Together with Verdane, we will scale the business more rapidly in a diligent way.”

Through this partnership, Telenor combines its industrial platform, global reach and customer relationships with Verdane’s financial resources, transaction experience and active ownership model. This structure supports long-term growth ambitions and allows Telenor to grow in a disciplined manner. The ambition is to strengthen Telenor Connexion’s global offering and accelerate growth through both organic expansion and value-creating acquisitions.

Pekka Lundmark, former CEO of Nokia (www.nokia.com), will join Telenor Connexion as independent chair following closing of the transaction. Mats Lundquist will continue as CEO of Telenor Connexion.

“We are grateful to have built a partnership based on mutual trust with Telenor and look forward to working closely together in the years to come,” said Bjarne Kveim Lie, managing partner at Verdane (www.verdane.com). “We believe Telenor Connexion is perfectly positioned in a well-established structural growth market that will benefit from the increasing adoption of AI through exposure to connected devices in data-intensive industries.”

As consideration following the transaction, Telenor will receive approximately SEK3.8bn in cash, in addition to a seller credit of approximately SEK0.8bn, and recognise a gain of approximately SEK7.2bn. Each party commits to invest an additional SEK2bn in the company’s value accretive growth, which for Telenor will be approximately half of the proceeds received upfront in the transaction.

Following the transaction, Telenor Connexion will be reported as an associated company of Telenor (www.telenor.com) group. The parties will establish a jointly owned company with 50/50 per cent ownership. The board will be comprised of two representatives from each owner, in addition to an independent chair. The parties expect to complete the transaction during 2026, subject to the necessary closing conditions.