Alchemy has this morning announced that they’re selling their Pan-European mobile operator business, LebaraGroup B.V, to Waterland Private Equity for an undisclosed sum. In the UK, Lebara is a virtual mobile operator (MVNO) that harnesses Vodafone’s national network to deliver 4G and 5G services (calls, text and mobile broadband).
Lebara currently offers similar mobile services to 4.4 million subscribers (up from 2.4m in 2019) across the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France and Denmark. Alchemy’s journey with Lebara began in 2018 when, following a “period of underperformance under prior ownership“, they identified an opportunity to acquire the business and have since led it through a period of transformation.
The business’ profitability and customer base has broadly doubled during Alchemy’s ownership, but now the reins are being passed to a new home.
Ian Cash and Alex Leicester of Alchemy said:
“Stephen and his team have done a fabulous job at repositioning Lebara and delivering substantial growth for the business, particularly in the UK where Lebara is the fastest growing player in the mobile telecommunications value segment.
The business has been truly transformed since our first investment in 2018 and we are grateful to Stephen and the team for their outstanding contribution to Lebara over the last 4 years – they have been a pleasure to work with. We have no doubt that Lebara will continue to go from strength to strength over the coming years under Waterland’s ownership.”
Stephen Shurrock, CEO of Lebara, said:
“It has also been our pleasure to work with Alchemy over the last few years. They have been hugely supportive of the Lebara turnaround, and have invested in the company to achieve significant growth. With Alchemy’s investment Lebara has repositioned itself and now has the latest digital platform, a focus on customer experience and is one of the fastest growing mobile businesses in Europe. They have also invested in people and upskilling the business.
Today Lebara is a strong business with a leading management team that will continue the strong growth story into the future. On a personal level I would like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to Alchemy, their trust, support and encouragement has meant a lot to me and the management team as we have worked through the company transformation.”
The sale, which is pending regulatory approval, is aiming to deliver a strong return on investment for Alchemy’s investors.