Telenor Connexion Valued at $809m as Verdane Joint Venture Signals Managed IoT Connectivity Coming of Age
Telenor has agreed a 50-50 joint venture with Nordic growth investor Verdane, valuing its managed IoT services unit at SEK 7.5 billion – 18 times EBITDA. With 31 million SIM cards across 200 countries and the first SGP.32 eSIM cards in production, the deal is about more than one company’s balance sheet.
Telenor and Verdane are forming a 50-50 jointly owned company for Telenor Connexion, Telenor’s managed IoT connectivity business, in a deal worth approximately $809 million at 18x EBITDA. The transaction gives Telenor Connexion independent growth capital and an acquisition mandate. Verdane brings EUR 10 billion in raised capital and 15 years of IoT investment experience. Both parties commit an additional SEK 2 billion each post-close. Pekka Lundmark, former Nokia CEO, becomes independent chair. The deal reflects the premium the market now places on recurring managed IoT connectivity revenue, the SGP.32 eSIM transition, and the broader shift of enterprise IoT buyers away from DIY connectivity management toward specialist managed services.
The Deal and Why the Valuation Multiple Matters
Telenor announced on 12 May 2026 that it has agreed to form a jointly-owned company with Verdane, the Oslo-headquartered specialist growth investment firm, for Telenor Connexion – its managed IoT services business. The transaction values Telenor Connexion at SEK 7.5 billion, equivalent to approximately $809 million. The new entity will be owned 50-50, with each party committing a further SEK 2 billion investment into the business after closing.
The headline number is significant, but the multiple is the real signal. At 18 times 2025 EBITDA, the transaction prices managed IoT connectivity considerably above standard telecom infrastructure multiples, which typically trade at 8 to 12 times EBITDA. That premium reflects something specific: the recurring, deeply embedded nature of managed IoT connectivity revenue, tied to device lifecycles measured in years or decades rather than the monthly churn cycles that characterise consumer mobile.
Telenor Connexion generated approximately SEK 1.3 billion in revenue in 2025, with pro-forma EBITDA of around SEK 415 million following the consolidation of Managed IoT Connectivity across Telenor Group. The new company will carry approximately SEK 2.2 billion in new bank debt, implying an expected post-transaction equity value of around SEK 5.3 billion. A potential earn-out provision could increase the enterprise value by a further SEK 0.3 billion if specific commercial targets are achieved. Telenor will receive approximately SEK 3.8 billion in cash upfront plus a seller credit of around SEK 0.8 billion, recognising a gain of approximately SEK 7.2 billion on the transaction. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close during 2026.
A connected vehicle manufacturer embedding Telenor Connexion’s SIM into a production platform does not switch providers casually. The integration work, roaming agreements, device certification, connectivity management platform configuration, and the commercial relationship are all deeply embedded. Each year a device stays in service is another year of recurring, low-churn revenue. Private equity understands recurring revenue with high switching costs. That is what the 18x multiple is pricing.
What Telenor Connexion Actually Does
Telenor Connexion is not a standard MVNO reselling SIM capacity. It is a managed IoT connectivity provider that handles the full lifecycle of large-scale device deployments for enterprise customers. The distinction matters. Where a commodity MVNO hands a customer a SIM and a data bundle, Telenor Connexion provides global multi-network SIM provisioning across 500+ networks, a proprietary connectivity management platform for monitoring and automating millions of devices, dedicated IoT engineering expertise throughout the deployment lifecycle, data analytics and reporting, security compliance tooling, and 24/7 specialist support from a team that works exclusively in IoT – not a shared helpdesk servicing consumer subscribers between calls.
The customer base reflects that depth. Telenor Connexion’s clients include Volvo, Scania, Hitachi, Verisure Securitas Direct, and Husqvarna. These are manufacturers embedding connectivity into products at scale – connected vehicles, industrial equipment, alarm systems, robotic lawn mowers – where the SIM relationship is tied to the commercial life of the product, potentially a decade or longer. A Husqvarna AUTOMOWER running in a Swedish garden in 2030 may well be running on a Telenor Connexion SIM provisioned before this JV transaction closes.
Telenor puts Telenor Connexion in the top ten managed IoT providers worldwide outside China. By active SIM count, that positions it alongside the specialist divisions of Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Tele2, and Telefonica, and well ahead of most independent MVNOs and managed service providers.
Telenor Connexion’s primary service offering is IoT Connect, a managed connectivity platform available in tiers from basic multi-SIM access up to fully customised managed deployments with dedicated engineering support. It provides a single global SIM that connects to local networks in each country, a self-service portal for device monitoring, automated subscription management, data usage controls, REST API integration with customer platforms, and a roaming selection tool that optimises network attachment in real time. The platform is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant throughout.
Twenty-Five Years of Context: How Telenor Connexion Got Here
Telenor has been active in managed IoT connectivity since the early 2000s, making it one of the longest-standing players in a market most analysts still treat as relatively young. The business has evolved substantially. In an earlier phase, Telenor Connexion operated its own connectivity management platform. That platform was later divested to Ericsson, which built it into what is now Ericsson IoT Accelerator – one of the largest CMP platforms globally. The decision to divest the platform and focus on the managed services and customer relationship layer turned out to be strategically sound: platform infrastructure is capital-intensive and commoditising; the managed services layer is where margin and customer retention live.
Other milestones on the Telenor IoT timeline include the opening of a North American hub and the first APAC hub in Japan, AWS Advanced Technology Partner status, Gartner recognition as a global managed IoT connectivity leader, and ISO 27001 certification. The company surpassed 10 million connected devices, then 17 million, then 20 million, and now sits at 31 million active connections.
In January 2026, Telenor consolidated all Nordic IoT operations under a single brand structure – Telenor IoT as the portfolio brand, with Telenor Connexion as the specialist unit for large international enterprise deployments. That consolidation tidied the corporate structure ahead of the Verdane transaction, and the timing was almost certainly deliberate.
Most recently, and importantly for the future of the business, Telenor Connexion announced the delivery of the first standardised SGP.32 SIM cards – the GSMA’s new IoT-specific remote SIM provisioning specification. SGP.32 is the successor to SGP.02 (the M2M eSIM standard) and represents a significant advance: it enables device-initiated profile downloads, simplifies carrier switching without physical SIM swaps, and is designed specifically for the operational realities of large IoT fleets. Being first to market with production SGP.32 SIMs is a technical positioning move that directly supports the growth strategy Verdane is buying into.
eSIM and eUICC remote provisioning – particularly the new SGP.32 specification – is the infrastructure layer that allows an IoT connectivity provider to switch a deployed device from one network to another without a site visit. For a managed service provider with millions of devices in the field, that capability is transformational: carrier transitions, network sunsets, coverage optimisation, and security responses can all be handled remotely at fleet scale. The provider that has production SGP.32 infrastructure first has a meaningful lead. Telenor Connexion is that provider.
Who Verdane Is and Why This Partnership Makes Strategic Sense
Verdane is a specialist growth buyout investment firm headquartered in Oslo, with offices across London, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Berlin, and Munich. It is not a generalist private equity firm making opportunistic technology bets. Verdane focuses specifically on European technology businesses operating within two structural themes: digitalisation and decarbonisation. It has raised more than EUR 10 billion in capital across its funds and has made over 200 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003. It employs more than 180 investment professionals and operating experts across its European offices.
Critically for this transaction, Verdane has more than 15 years of experience as an IoT investor. Its portfolio has included Onomondo, the Copenhagen-based IoT connectivity scale-up that redesigned cellular IoT architecture around a fully virtualised core network and has deployed across 160 countries. That investment is not peripheral context – it means Verdane’s team has genuine operational understanding of what it takes to run global IoT connectivity infrastructure, manage carrier relationships, and scale a specialist connectivity business. They are not learning the market through this transaction.
Verdane is also a certified B Corporation and applies a strict internal sustainability test – its “2040 test” – to assess whether a business can thrive in a more sustainable future economy before investment. IoT connectivity infrastructure, which underpins smart metering, grid management, fleet efficiency, and environmental monitoring, passes that test with little difficulty.
“We believe Telenor Connexion is perfectly positioned in a well-established structural growth market that will benefit from the increasing adoption of AI through exposure to connected devices in data-intensive industries.”
Bjarne Kveim Lie, Founder and Managing Partner, VerdaneThat framing from Verdane’s founder – IoT connectivity as the data infrastructure layer for industrial AI – is worth unpacking. The managed connectivity layer is not just a pipe. It is where device identity, network selection, data routing, security policy, and usage telemetry all live. As industrial AI systems increasingly depend on continuous, reliable sensor and telemetry data from distributed physical assets, the managed connectivity layer becomes more valuable, not less. Verdane is making a structural bet on that trajectory, not a short-term financial engineering play.
Morten Weicher, Partner at Verdane, said the firm looks forward to drawing on its experience in scaling industrial technology companies alongside Telenor Connexion’s management team. Mats Lundquist will remain CEO. Pekka Lundmark, former President and CEO of Nokia, has agreed to become independent chair of Telenor Connexion after closing. Lundmark’s background spans heavy industrial technology, telecommunications infrastructure, and global enterprise operations at the highest level – his appointment as chair is a signal of the ambition behind the transaction, not a ceremonial role.
The Competitive Landscape: A Market in Consolidation
The managed IoT connectivity market is large, growing, and increasingly competitive. Market research figures vary significantly depending on methodology and scope, but the managed IoT connectivity services segment is consistently projected at double-digit compound annual growth toward 2030. The Verdane announcement itself references expected double-digit market growth through that period.
The market broadly divides into three tiers. At the top end, the major MNO-owned IoT divisions – Vodafone IoT, Deutsche Telekom IoT, Telefonica IoT, and Tele2 IoT – compete on scale and network ownership. Below them, a layer of specialist managed service providers and well-capitalised independent MVNOs compete on depth of service, flexibility, and technical capability. At the bottom, a growing set of low-cost flat-rate providers – most visibly 1NCE, which offers lifetime IoT SIM products at sub-$10 pricing – compete on price for high-volume, low-complexity deployments.
The specialist layer is where the most active competitive and M&A activity is happening. Key players alongside Telenor Connexion include:
KORE Wireless
US-headquartered global IoT MVNO with strong enterprise and healthcare verticals. NYSE-listed. Has pursued an acquisition-led growth strategy to build global scale.
Eseye
UK-based managed IoT connectivity specialist. Strong on MVNA architecture and multi-network eSIM. Active voice on SGP.32 and managed services strategy. Well regarded for technical depth.
Emnify
Berlin-based cloud-native IoT connectivity platform. Strong software and API layer. Growing fast in developer-led IoT deployment segments. Backed by growth capital.
Soracom
Japanese-origin global IoT connectivity platform. Cloud-native architecture. Strong APAC and North America presence. Developer-friendly API-first approach.
Tele2 IoT
Swedish MNO-backed specialist IoT unit. Strong Nordic and European enterprise base. Competitor and occasional partner to Telenor Connexion in overlapping markets.
Wireless Logic
UK-headquartered IoT connectivity provider. Private equity-backed (Bowmark Capital, then Montagu). Aggressive acquisition strategy across Europe. Strong in UK utilities and smart metering.
The $809 million valuation Verdane has placed on Telenor Connexion will not go unnoticed by the investors and owners of these competitors. The transaction validates managed IoT connectivity as a standalone asset class at scale, and is likely to accelerate further M&A activity across the sector – particularly among European specialist providers that have grown to meaningful scale but remain subscale relative to the global ambitions the market now demands.
Several major MNOs are facing a structural problem in IoT: their legacy connectivity management platforms – often built on older stacks including Cisco Jasper – carry a cost-to-serve that destroys margin when applied to low-revenue IoT devices. We are already seeing players restructure their IoT divisions, whether through spinoffs, JVs, or divestments. Telenor’s Verdane transaction is a sophisticated version of that pattern – retaining strategic ownership while unlocking growth capital and operational independence. Vodafone’s own IoT division restructuring is a parallel example. For enterprise IoT buyers, the risk is vendor stability: if your primary connectivity provider has not clearly signalled its IoT strategy, it is worth asking the question directly.
The Great Re-Alignment: Why Managed IoT Is Growing Faster Than DIY
The Verdane transaction lands at a moment of structural shift in how enterprises approach IoT connectivity. The trend has a name in industry analysis circles: the “great re-alignment” – a move away from enterprises managing their own IoT connectivity estates internally, toward fully managed services that transfer complexity and risk to specialist providers.
The drivers are real and accumulating. The global cellular network landscape is fragmenting: 2G and 3G sunsets are ongoing across multiple markets simultaneously, 5G Standalone rollout is uneven and complex, LTE-M and NB-IoT coverage varies significantly between operators and countries, and the arrival of SGP.32 eSIM provisioning adds a new layer of technical and commercial management that internal IoT teams are frequently not staffed to handle. A manufacturer with 500,000 devices across 40 countries is managing connectivity relationships with dozens of operators, in multiple currencies, subject to different regulatory frameworks, with roaming agreements that may or may not support the next-generation network technology their devices will need to use.
The honest conclusion most enterprises are reaching is that they are not in the connectivity business. Telenor Connexion, Eseye, KORE, and their peers are. The managed services model – single contract, single platform, single point of accountability across the full device lifecycle – is winning over internal management for deployments of any significant scale.
This trend directly supports the growth thesis behind Verdane’s investment. A company that has 31 million SIMs under management today, with a growing SGP.32 infrastructure and a customer base that does not switch lightly, is positioned to capture a disproportionate share of the enterprise managed IoT market as that re-alignment accelerates through the late 2020s.
What This Means for UK and European IoT Buyers and Businesses
For IoT engineers and project managers in the UK specifying connectivity for large or geographically distributed deployments, the immediate practical impact of this transaction is limited. Telenor Connexion’s services continue under the same management team and the same brand, with the same network footprint and the same product stack. The change is in the company’s financial capacity and strategic mandate.
The longer-term implications are more meaningful. The most direct is acquisition activity. Telenor Connexion has stated an intention to pursue organic growth and acquisitions. With SEK 4 billion in combined new investment committed by the two JV partners, plus the bank debt facility, the new entity has the capital to move decisively in a market where scale and geographic coverage are competitive advantages. European managed IoT providers that have built meaningful businesses but lack the capital or network to compete globally are potential targets. That could affect the vendor landscape for UK and European IoT procurement within the next two to three years.
The SGP.32 thread is specifically relevant for UK IoT buyers. eUICC and remote SIM provisioning – particularly through the SGP.32 specification – allows a deployed device to switch its cellular network profile remotely, without a physical SIM swap or site visit. For a UK utility company managing hundreds of remote meters or pump stations, or a logistics company with thousands of tracked assets, the ability to change network providers across a deployed fleet without truck rolls is an operational and cost-reducing capability. Telenor Connexion being first to production SGP.32 SIM cards makes it the reference point for enterprise buyers evaluating that transition. For more on multi-network SIM options, roamingsim.co.uk and multinetworksim.com cover the practical options available for UK and global deployments today.
More broadly, the 18x EBITDA transaction validates a point that has been contested in IoT procurement discussions for years: managed connectivity is worth paying for. The operational risk of managing global cellular connectivity across multiple operators and network generations internally is real, and it increases as deployments scale. The Verdane valuation puts a clear market price on the alternative.
| Factor | DIY Connectivity Management | Managed Service (e.g. Telenor Connexion) |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier relationships | Multiple separate contracts, multiple billings | Single contract, one point of contact |
| Network coverage | Limited to contracted operators | 500+ networks via single global SIM |
| 2G/3G sunset management | In-house engineering resource required | Handled by provider, devices migrated transparently |
| SGP.32/eSIM provisioning | Significant technical and commercial overhead | Managed remotely by provider at fleet scale |
| IoT platform and reporting | Build or integrate separately | Included, API-connected to existing systems |
| Uptime accountability | Distributed across multiple operators | Single SLA with financial backing |
What Happens Next
The transaction is expected to close during 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. Once complete, Telenor Connexion will be reported as an associated company of Telenor Group. The board will comprise two representatives from each of Telenor and Verdane, plus Pekka Lundmark as independent chair. As a separate element of the deal, Verdane acquires Telenor’s ownership stakes in BLDNG.ai and Whereby – two technology businesses from Telenor’s Amp portfolio that are more aligned with Verdane’s broader digital consumer and software investment themes. That element keeps the IoT vehicle clean.
The acquisition mandate is explicit. Both Telenor Connexion and Verdane have stated that the new entity will pursue organic expansion and acquisitions. No specific targets have been named, but the capital structure and the stated ambition to become a top-five global IoT provider outside China points toward bolt-on acquisitions in European markets, potentially in the UK, Germany, or the Benelux – where Telenor Connexion does not currently have the same depth of presence as its Nordic home market.
For the wider IoT connectivity market, the primary effect is likely to be further M&A activity as the transaction establishes a benchmark valuation. Private equity firms and strategic acquirers looking at European IoT connectivity assets now have a concrete reference point. The question is whether the next transactions come from MNOs further restructuring their IoT units, from independent MVNOs seeking growth capital, or from Telenor Connexion itself making the first acquisition move under its new ownership structure.
The broader narrative – managed IoT connectivity as a premium, recurring-revenue infrastructure asset underpinning industrial AI and the next generation of connected devices – is now publicly valued at $809 million and backed by one of Europe’s most active technology growth investors. That is a statement the rest of the market will need to respond to.