Colt says ‘no plans’ for Fidelity to sell after deadline expires

Colt says ‘no plans’ for Fidelity to sell after deadline expires

Fidelity has “no plans” to sell Colt, despite the expiry of the deadline by which the pension fund promised not to sell its 100% owned telecoms company.

When Fidelity bought the one-third of Colt it did not already own in 2015 for £569 million, the investor said: “Fidelity has committed to holding its investment in Colt and not to sell or take any other steps to dispose of its Colt shares to any third party prior to 31 December 2016.”

Three weeks after that deadline Capacity asked Colt whether Fidelity now had any intention to change its holding in the carrier.

“We can confirm with you that there are no plans for Fidelity to sell Colt,” said an executive speaking on behalf of Colt. 

Carl Grivner, CEO of Colt, elaborated: "Colt continues to have strong support from its ownership and I can confirm with you that there are no plans to sell Colt.”    

Fidelity has been the significant backer of Colt since the company was created in London in 1992. Its shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1996 and it remained a public company until Fidelity increased its stake to 100% in 2015.

In 2014 Colt bought KVH, a Japanese operator also backed by Fidelity. This is now Colt Asia, which has recently announced an expansion of services.

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