Norway to sell 30% stake in fibre broadband unit to KKR, others

OSLO Reuters Norway said on Friday that it had agreed to sell a 30% stake in its Norwegian fibre broadband unit for 10.8 billion crowns $1.0 billion to a consortium led by U.S. investment company KKR and Norway's pension firm Oslo Pensjonsforsikring.

The transaction highlights the value of our infrastructure, strengthens our financial position and unlocks capital to support the continued high fibre roll-out in Norway, Chief Financial Officer Tone Hegland Bachke said in a statement.

Telenor Fiber AS, which owns the group's passive fibre assets in Norway, includes some 130,000 km 81,000 miles of cables connecting more than 560,000 homes, will still be majority owned by Telenor, the company said.

Nearly 30% of the proceeds will be used for share buybacks, according to Telenor.

Telenor is responsible for both the operations and processes in the company.