| 12 December 2001 |
KOHLBERG KRAVIS ROBERTS MAKES A MAJOR STRATEGIC INITIATIVE IN DSL IN EUROPE
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co L.P. (KKR) announced today a major strategic initiative in European broadband services by combining a €50 million equity investment in KKF.net AG (KKF), a leading provider of DSL and Internet services in Germany, with a distribution and co-operation agreement between KKF and Tenovis GmbH & Co. KG (Tenovis), formerly the Private Networks division of Bosch Telecom GmbH which KKR acquired earlier this year. As a result of these agreements KKR and Tenovis have both become significant shareholders in KKF.
KKR and Tenovis' resources will allow KKF to accelerate the roll-out of its SDSL (symmetric digital subscriber line) service throughout Germany, as well as to develop further its value-added service capability and expand its service offering to other European countries. KKF's sales and marketing efforts will be significantly enhanced by the Tenovis sales organisation which will market KKF's products to its customer base of over 100,000 SMEs (small and medium size enterprises). In addition, Tenovis' substantial service team will help to install and maintain KKF products.
Neil Richardson of KKR said "This transaction will enable KKF to capitalise fully on its early-mover advantage in the provision of DSL-based broadband connectivity and value-added services in Germany. We believe that the combination of the financial and strategic support of KKR and exclusive access to Tenovis' large base of SME customers, sales force and service capability will step up KKF's momentum and competitive advantage."
Michael König, co-founder of KKF added, "KKF is already an experienced provider of broadband and internet services in Germany. KKR's investment and our partnership with Tenovis, provides us with the opportunity to accelerate our growth. We will focus on consolidating our position in the German market, which is the largest, most open and most attractive market for broadband services in Europe, as well as developing plans and partnerships to offer our services Europe-wide."
Commenting on the KKR investment, Peter Záboji, the Chairman and CEO of Tenovis, said, "The collaboration with KKF is an important example of Tenovis' ongoing mission to bring state-of-the-art communication solutions to our customers. There is a rapidly-growing demand for broadband services from our customer base which this partnership will enable us to satisfy with a partner that has the experience and commitment to quality and innovation that mirrors our own."
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