The cloud native mobile core software developer’s shares amount to a $150m deal
Telenor has sold its 44.6% share of Working Group Two to Cisco for $150m. Working Group Two started as a development project in Telenor before it was spun out with Telenor as a cornerstone investor in 2017 along with infrastructure investment firm Digital Alpha.
Working Group Two offers mobile operators a cloud-based core network platform designed to increase product innovation and reduce time to the market, growing from five to more than 90 employees with a global customer base in Europe, North America and Asia.
“Working Group Two is a Telenor innovation and a Norwegian technology success story that we are proud of being part of. Telenor and Cisco partnered on the launch of the company and have enjoyed a fruitful collaboration on many areas over the past few years,” said EVP and head of Telenor Amp Dan Ouchterlony (pictured).
He added: “Cisco is an excellent future home for Working Group Two with a shared vision for how the industry should evolve. This transaction represents another milestone on our strategy of realising value in the Telenor Amp portfolio.”
Telenor Amp was launched during last year’s Capital Markets Day as part of Telenor’s new strategy. The initiative represents a new division within the Telenor Group, in addition to Telenor Asia, Telenor Nordic, and Telenor Infrastructure. Telenor Amp focuses on strategic investments in companies closely related to Telenor’s core business.
Telenor Amp’s investment portfolio currently includes 16 companies, with a combined value ranging from NOK10-15bn. This portfolio comprises a mix of startups as well as established companies such as Telenor Connexion, Telenor Linx, Telenor Maritime, Allente and Carousell.
Last month, Telenor Amp made its first investment in Oslo-based startup Shapemaker, which is developing a civil design and automation product to serve large tower infrastructure portfolios and expand into other structures. The product dramatically reduces the time required for structural calculations from weeks to minutes.
Cisco filling out its portfolio again
Although not quite at the John Chambers-level of acquisitions, Cisco has nabbed half a dozen or so companies since June alone. This includes: Code BGP, Oort, SamKnows and the pending Accedian Networks.
In a blog, Cisco Networking, provider mobility, SVP and GM Masum Mir said the Working Group Two acquisition would turbo charge the vendor’s recently announced Mobility Services Platform.
“WG2’s platform uses the web-scale playbook and operating models, which makes it a natural fit with our Mobility Services Platform,” he said. “WG2’s technology and team beautifully align with the same approach: simplifying the Mobile network architecture to deliver a radically innovative mobile service.”
He said the companies share a goal to deliver a global, programmable mobile core as a service. “The consumption model is simple and comprehensive, supporting all stakeholders,” he said. “The end result is a mobility services platform that can dramatically simplify Mobile network deployments, provide enhanced edge experiences, enable new and advanced use cases, as well as support simple application development.”