Cibicom is a leading connectivity and data storage provider in Denmark. It owns and operates the nationwide digital TV and radio broadcasting tower infrastructure network (95% of Danes use its broadcast network when they listen to the radio or watch TV), data centres, and 3,500km of fibre connections, and is the sole independent telecom co-location operator. Cibicom provides mission-critical communication networks used by public and private customers including Danish emergency and security services.
Agilitas backed the buyout of Cibicom in November 2018.
The thesis
Agilitas Private Equity is a mid-market pan-European private equity firm which has a patient, sector-focused investment approach and a strong track record of dramatically transforming and growing companies. Agilitas is highly selective and only backs companies that serve fundamental human or planetary needs, ensuring alignment between shareholder value creation and positive purpose.
Agilitas was attracted to Cibicom’s fundamental purpose of providing and maintaining critical infrastructure across Denmark. The decision to back Cibicom aligned with Agilitas’s strategy of partnering with exceptional managers to back defensible businesses operating in regulated environments – Agilitas identified Cibicom as a highly defensible business providing essential, regulated services: transmission is reliable, demand is steady, and pricing and competition are legally controlled. It is the only operator in Denmark with towers higher than 100 metres, allowing digital terrestrial TV and radio broadcasters, as well as mobile network operators, to meet coverage obligations cost effectively. Private and public sector organisations, including the Danish military, fire brigade, and coast guard, depend on the reliability of its services.
Agilitas’s deep expertise and track record in the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) sector enabled the firm to identify Cibicom as a strategic asset. Agilitas secured exclusivity due to its sector expertise and commitment to service quality. Other investments in this space include Aeven, Denmark’s leading IT infrastructure provider which serves blue-chip clients in regulated industries such as life sciences, finance, and the public sector, and Tidalis, which delivers mission-critical integrated solutions to the global maritime industry, serving major ports including Abu Dhabi, Antwerp, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Rotterdam.
The transformation
Cibicom has an impressive 100-year history. Under Agilitas’s stewardship, the business transitioned from an engineering-led, state-run business, to one with a greater commercial focus, and the shift in mindset this came with. Cibicom has undergone a significant transformation under Agilitas’s stewardship, focusing on operational excellence, sustainable innovation, and strategic expansion, to become a leading connectivity and data storage provider in Denmark with an integrated infrastructure and services offering.
Cibicom’s transformation began with the onboarding of experienced professionals to strengthen its existing management team, ensuring the right leadership to drive growth. Cibicom subsequently diversified its core offering and transformed into a digital infrastructure provider with the development of strategic growth areas such as Internet of Things (IoT), indoor connectivity, and data centres. Cibicom expanded its data centre capacity in 2023, completing a new, state-of-the-art centre with advanced power, cooling, and security solutions. The new facility has strengthened Cibicom’s service portfolio and geographic reach, offering advanced data-centre solutions to customers across new regions in Denmark. The company also launched an innovative ‘Tower-as-a-Service’ offering, providing a scalable, flexible, and cost-efficient solution to mobile providers.
In parallel, Agilitas has helped the business strengthen its commitment to sustainable services and to consistently champion climate-friendly power, reducing the environmental impact of its data centres. In 2021, Cibicom opened a centre with electricity derived from 100% renewable energy (wind and hydropower) from the Nordic countries.
Cibicom has also developed innovative modular communications masts, which present several transformational opportunities for growth, including the expansion of the company’s presence in data centres and IoT. IoT has many potential applications, including remotely monitoring power consumption, thereby reducing customers’ carbon footprint, and helping farmers to monitor the climate, thereby increasing agricultural efficiency.
Strategic acquisitions have played a vital part in accelerating Cibicom’s transformation plan. Under Agilitas’s stewardship, the company has completed three add-on acquisitions, extending the scope and quality of the mission-critical services it delivers. For example, in 2022, Cibicom acquired Telpartner, a leading Distribution Antenna Systems (DAS) solutions provider that delivers critical indoor mobile communication coverage to its public and enterprise customers. By adding complementary indoor solutions to Cibicom’s existing nationwide transmissions network, the company can now deliver integrated communications indoors and outdoors to essential businesses across Danish society.
Through a combination of strategic leadership, operational advancements, sustainability initiatives, and targeted acquisitions, Cibicom has successfully transformed into a leading connectivity and data storage provider. With a strong foundation for future growth, the company is well-positioned to drive innovation and continue delivering mission-critical services across Denmark.
The impact
Cibicom’s transformation story aligns with one of the most significant global mega trends: the exponential rise in data consumption and the growing need for reliable digital infrastructure and storage.
As a provider of mission-critical communications, Cibicom plays a vital role in delivering the key infrastructure contributing to the country’s day-to-day operations, as well as the networks that safeguard Denmark, such as emergency services and defence forces.
From its tower platform, Cibicom offers television and radio broadcasting, mission-critical mobile network services, and IoT connectivity. Its services aren’t just critical to the country’s public sector – Cibicom also operates vital data storage across four reliable and secure Tier 3 co-location data centres and a B2B fibre network, and Telpartner installs market-leading distributed antenna systems and operates indoor networks connected to nationwide telecom companies.
The transformation of Cibicom into a critical provider with integrated infrastructure and services offering supports the growth of the Danish public and private sectors. Cibicom’s unreplicable infrastructure is highly attractive due to its essential role in national security, digital connectivity, and economic growth. The sector’s expansion is driven by the rising need for local, secure, scalable, and high-performance networks and connectivity – all areas where Cibicom is primed for continued success. With state-of-the-art data centres and unrivalled national infrastructure platform, Cibicom is strategically positioned to capitalise on the increasing demand for secure, high-capacity data storage, driven by the surge in cloud computing, IoT, and AI-driven technologies.
