Irish broadband group Imagine has been taken over by a Canadian investor
Brookfield has taken a majority stake in Sean Bolger’s company after a €120 million investment.
BROADBAND GROUP IMAGINE Communications has been taken over by Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management following a €120 million investment.
Brookfield has acquired a 50.1% stake in the telecoms company, founded by Sean Bolger, which is now valued at around €200 million.
The new funds will be invested in Imagine’s high-speed internet rollout in Ireland as well as its expansion across the European market.
According to Imagine, it will launch its 5G fixed wireless infrastructure in Ireland first, including in rural areas, which have been infamously underserved.
Imagine deploys fixed wireless broadband so it could not apply for the National Broadband Plan, which is relying on fibre broadband.
Imagine expects to roll out its broadband infrastructure – with speeds of 150Mbps – to 1.4 million premises within two years, Bolger said, adding that full details of the rollout are yet to be announced.
“This represents a significant commercial investment in essential infrastructure in Ireland to finally deliver the long-awaited benefit of high-speed broadband service, particularly to users and communities in the underserved rural and regional areas,” he said.
Sean Bolger
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has been informed of the acquisition and both parties expect the deal to be closed by the end of the third quarter of the year if it is approved.
Latest move in Ireland
Sandyford-based Imagine was founded in 1993 and employs 156 people. It booked profits of €14.6 million in 2016, according to its latest accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office.
That same year it sold off its retail business division in Ireland to telco Magnet in order to focus further on its national broadband rollout.
Toronto-based Brookfield has $285 billion in assets under management and mainly invests in infrastructure, energy and property.
This is not the firm’s first foray into Ireland having previously invested in Bord Gáis’s wind power business. It recently posted a net income of $1.9 billion for the first three months of 2018.
