ots Ad hoc-Service: AdCapital AG <DE0005214506> AdCapital invests in telecommunications company Fortel S.A.
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AdCapital has invested in the French telecommunications provider Fortel a minority stake of 15 Mio. Euro. In August this year, Fortel was granted one of two national licenses for Wireless Local Loop (WLL) in France. WLL technology can provide both voice telephony and broadband internet access. The internet access offered by this system is many times faster than France Telecom's DSL technology and enables video conferences among other advantages.
Worldwide demand for broadband ( high-volume data transfer) is tripling every year. The data highways are seeing major advancements in technology aided by sizeable investments and progress in fiber optic technology. The "last mile" is worldwide access to local end users. This sector has traditionally been controlled by the former national monopolies such as France Telecom. With WLL technology smaller telecom providers can bypass the existing monopolistic networks. The WLL licenses were distributed free of charge by the French government in the middle of this year to two consortiums, one of which is Fortel.
Fortel is targeting the mass market of private households and small and medium-sized enterprises. To enable Fortel to cover at least 85% of all French cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants by end of 2004, Fortel's major shareholders will provide up to EUR 300 million. These shareholders include: UPC, Marine Wendel, alpha and NRJ. The publicly traded company UPC, Europe's biggest cable network operator with access to over 7 million cable customers, brings industrial expertise and access to Chello, Europe's biggest broadband internet portal. The other shareholders are alpha-Gruppe, one of the most successful European private equity funds; Marine-Wendel, the big French industrial corporation; and NRJ. NRJ, a publicly traded French media group (Radio Energy), brings access to their transmission network, a fundamental precondition for the fast roll-out planned.
At the start of 2001, Fortel will begin development of the Wireless Local Loop and increase its turnover to 500 million Euro by 2005. EBITDA is forecast to move into positive territory by 2003. Compared to the development of a fiber optic or UMTS network, the investment costs required here are far lower, facilitating a highly competitive offer.
About AdCapital AG To date, AdCapital has an investment volume of over EUR 400 million. AdCapital's strategic focus is high-growth, innovative enterprises from the new economy as well as medium-sized enterprises involved in management buy- outs or needing equity capital for new, future-oriented business models.
For more information please contact:
AdCapital AG Director, Corporate Communications Christiane Schroiff 0175-724 66 58 cms@adcapital.de
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Original-Content von: AdCapital AG, übermittelt durch news aktuell