Warburg Pincus teams up with Horta-Osório on €6bn bid for telecoms assets

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Warburg Pincus has teamed up with former Credit Suisse chair Sir António Horta-Osório on a €6bn-plus bid by the US private equity firm for Altice’s Portuguese telecoms assets, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal would mark a comeback for Horta-Osório, the former Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, who left Credit Suisse last year after losing the board’s support following breaches of coronavirus quarantine rules.

Since then, the 59-year-old Portuguese has taken advisory roles at Italian lender Mediobanca and private equity firm Cerberus, but has mainly kept a low profile.

He is more than an adviser on the Warburg bid, according to people familiar with the relationship, who described it as a “partnership”, and he could play a role in the business if it is bought, although that has not yet been decided.

Horta-Osório ran Santander’s Portuguese business in the early 2000s when Portugal Telecom, which was later bought by Altice, was a large client. 

Altice is fielding offers for its Portuguese telecoms business until early January, and has received interest from multiple industry players and private equity funds, including US group Apollo, said people familiar with the matter. 

The auction of Altice Portugal is part of a broader effort led by Patrick Drahi, the billionaire owner of Altice, to sell assets to chip away at its $60bn debt load amid concerns about higher interest rates.

Drahi has signalled he is open to selling various parts of his telecoms and media empire, which includes assets in France, Israel and the US, as it faces debt repayments in the coming years. 

Altice announced it November it had agreed to sell a majority stake in its French data centre unit to Morgan Stanley, and has also been looking to dispose of online video advertising company Teads.

Altice has also come under scrutiny since the summer when Armando Pereira, the company’s co-founder, was placed under house arrest in Portugal as prosecutors investigate corruption allegations against him. Pereira has previously denied wrongdoing.

Warburg Pincus recently raised more than $17bn for its latest flagship private equity fund despite a difficult market. 

The firm has made a series of investments in recent years in the telecoms and technology sectors, including the acquisition of T-Mobile’s Netherlands business, in a deal valuing the company at €5.1bn. Warburg also acquired satellite company Inmarsat in a $6bn deal in 2019. 

Warburg’s European co-head is former Deutsche Telekom chief executive René Obermann, who has been involved in some of these investments. Alongside investing in telecoms, Warburg also backs companies in the technology, healthcare and business services sectors, among others. 

Horta-Osório, Warburg, Altice and Apollo all declined to comment.

Additional reporting by Leila Abboud and Antoine Gara