Soros backs UK fibre firm
May 23, 2013
George Soros has invested £50 million (€59m) into Hyperoptic, the British fibre broadband provider, to help expand the business across the UK. Hyperoptic builds high-speed broadband connections of up to 1gbps to residential developments.
The group has secured the amount from investors led by Quantum Strategic Partners, a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund Management. The investment is the latest move by Soros in the global telco market having already attempted to buy a mobile licence in Brazil and backed a bid to acquire a telecoms licence in Myanmar.
The money will be used by Hyperoptic to expand its business into up to 10 cities this year as well as into new business areas such as corporate customers and services such as internet TV and cloud computing. The company has so far mainly focused on residential developments in London.
Boris Ivanovic, chairman of Hyperoptic, said that the expansion would require “substantial funds” that its founders could no longer provide. The group was founded by Ivanovic and his partner Dana Tobak in 2010 using the proceeds of internet service providers Be, in the UK, and Bostream in Sweden.