Permira sells off Freenet

UK private equity firm Permira is selling its remaining 10.1% stake in German mobile group Freenet.

Permira is making the sale through a share placement managed by Goldman Sachs. The UK firm has also revealed that its Dutch-based Telco Holding investment vehicle is selling €119m worth of Freenet shares.

Signalling that the private equity firm is in distress, Permira said at the beginning of January that they would not be selling any shares in the Hamburg-based company.

Permira became a major shareholder in Freenet when it merged the company with its phone group Debitel, preventing it from being asset-stripped in 2008.