Eir to Sell Majority Stake in Tetra Ireland in €76m Deal

Eir, a large fixed, mobile and broadband telecommunications company in Ireland, has agreed to sell a majority stake in Tetra Ireland, a provider of secure communications to the Garda and emergency services, in a €76 million deal.

The buyer is Digital 9 Infrastructure, a newly-formed investment trust which last year acquired Aqua Comms, a Dublin-headquartered company that operates a sub-sea transatlantic fibre-optic cable that links the US to Europe via the Republic.

It is acquiring a 56 per cent stake in Tetra Ireland Communications Limited from Eir, and said it hopes to take full control of the company at a future date for a total consideration of up to €135.7 million. Such a move is, however, dependent on agreement from other shareholders Sigma Networks and Motorola.

Eir’s agreement to sell its stake to Digital 9 is contingent on a preemption clause that gives first refusal to the other shareholders. Sigma Networks and Motorola, which have a 25 per cent and 19 per cent stake respectively, have two weeks to decide on whether to agree to the sale.
Digital 9 Infrastructure, which was only established last year, is overseen by Triple Point Investment Management, a London-based investment group that oversees more than £1.8 billion of assets.
The Tetra transaction is one of a number made by the trust over the past year. Its $215 million deal for Aqua Comms in March 2021 was the trust’s first and came shortly after it listed its shares as part of a £400 million flotation in London. Other assets owned by Digital 9 Infrastructure include a data centre operator in Iceland and a sub-sea cable landing station in England.

Overall Digital 9 Infrastructure has raised over £750 million since its initial public offering, with plans to raise a further £200 million via a new share placing by the end of this month.

Tetra was commissioned to develop a purpose-build standalone digital radio network for use by emergency services and non-commercial public bodies after winning a State-held competitive tender in 2006.