Telefónica, Vodafone sell Fiberpass stake to Axa
November 20, 2025
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Telefónica and Vodafone España have finalised the sale of a 30 per cent stake in their joint fibre-optic venture, Fiberpass, to AXA Investment Management, in a deal that values the company at around €1.5 billion including debt. The French infrastructure group is expected to contribute approximately €450 million as part of the transaction.
With the agreement, AXA becomes a minority shareholder alongside the two telcos, which previously held 63 per cent (Telefónica) and 37 per cent (Vodafone) of the capital. The move strengthens AXA’s position in the European digital-infrastructure market, while providing the Spanish operators with fresh capital to support network expansion and balance-sheet optimisation.
Fiberpass currently covers about 3.6 million real-estate units – including households, offices and businesses – representing roughly 12 per cent of Telefónica’s national fibre network. The joint venture supplies fibre-optic services to both Telefónica España and Vodafone España, for retail as well as wholesale offerings. At launch, it is estimated to serve around 1.4 million active customers, equivalent to a penetration rate of approximately 40 per cent.
The transaction comes amid further consolidation in Spain’s fibre-optic landscape. Earlier this year, MasOrange and Vodafone España announced that Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, had been chosen as a partner in their PremiumFiber joint venture. GIC will acquire a 25 per cent stake, while MasOrange will retain 58 per cent and Vodafone the remaining 17 per cent.
PremiumFiber will operate a dedicated fibre network exclusively for MasOrange and Vodafone España. Between them, the two operators will contribute around 12 million premises and nearly 5 million customers. The network will solely provide services to clients of both companies, which will continue to maintain and operate the infrastructure each has contributed to the new venture.
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