Telefonica, H.I.G. Among Suitors for Spain’s Avatel

Clara Hernanz Lizarraga and Vinicy Chan, Bloomberg News

The Telefonica SA headquarters in Madrid, Spain.

, Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Telefonica SA and H.I.G. Capital are among the suitors weighing bids for Avatel Telecom SL, the Spanish carrier that put itself up for sale this year, people with knowledge of the matter said.

PAI Partners and Searchlight Capital Partners also were invited to take part in second-round bidding, the people said, asking not to be identified because the conversations are private. Avatel could be valued at as much as €700 million ($761 million) including net debt, one of the people said.

Spanish investment firm Inveready is considering participating in an offer by one of the four potential bidders, one of the people said.

Representatives for Avatel, Telefonica, PAI, Searchlight and Inveready declined to comment. A spokesperson for H.I.G. didn’t have an immediate comment.

Avatel, which is owned by its founders, Chief Executive Officer Ignacio Aguirre and Chairman Victor Rodriguez, as well as Vice Chairman Jorge Gomez, has grown from a small carrier on the Costa del Sol to Spain’s fifth-largest fiber-network operator.

The company has bought 155 firms across the country and invested €650 million over the past three years, according to its website.

The carrier serves its mobile customers through a wholesale agreement with Telefonica.