Digi Spain files for IPO at up to €1.7 billion valuation

Digi Spain, the Spanish telecommunications unit of Romania's Digi Communications Group, filed for an initial public offering that could value the business at as much as €1.7 billion ($1.94 billion), marking a rapid turnaround from April when the company said a flotation was "not imminent."

The offering includes a primary issuance of new shares worth around €150 million and a secondary sale of existing shares by parent company Digi Romania, which will retain a stake of at least 75% after the deal. Global Portfolio Investments has committed to a €100 million investment in the offering, conditional on a pre-money equity valuation of up to roughly €1.7 billion.

"Digi Spain has built a distinctive customer-centric model based on affordable and high-quality connectivity, as well as disciplined execution, generating a remarkable pace of growth and a clear path toward further expansion," said Serghei Bulgac, chairman of the board at Digi Spain. "An IPO represents a natural evolution to enhance Digi Spain's financial flexibility, in order to support its next phase of growth and investment."

Digi Spain generated revenue of €929 million in the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of about 20% between 2023 and 2025. Adjusted EBITDA, excluding operating leases, reached roughly €175 million, equivalent to a margin of about 19% of revenue, rising to 21.6% in the second half of 2025. The company served about 11.4 million revenue-generating units as of March 2026, including 7.6 million mobile subscribers and 2.8 million fixed broadband connections, while its SMART fiber-to-the-home network covered 14.2 million building units passed.

IPO Details and Use of Proceeds

Net proceeds from the primary offering, estimated at about €136 million, will mainly fund growth initiatives including new fiber-to-the-home deployments and mobile network expansion through radio access network sharing and its own infrastructure, the company said. Digi Spain plans to apply for admission to trading on the stock exchanges in Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia.

The final decision to proceed and the timetable for the offering depend on market conditions and approval of the IPO prospectus by Spain's National Securities Market Commission, or CNMV. The company did not specify a target listing date.

Digi Spain has grown rapidly since becoming a facilities-based operator following the MasOrange merger just over two years ago. It is Spain's fourth-largest mobile operator with a 13% market share as of the end of May, according to telecoms regulator CNMC. On the fixed broadband side, it overtook Vodafone earlier this year to claim third place, serving 14% of connections versus Vodafone's 13%. Across mobile and fixed internet, its Spanish revenue-generating units increased 26% over 12 months, Digi Communications said in its first-quarter report.

Strategic Rationale and Market Context

The IPO represents a bet that European telecom challenger brands can attract public-market capital despite a sector that has struggled with low returns on invested capital. Digi's low-cost, high-volume model — offering unlimited mobile plans at prices well below incumbent operators — has driven subscriber growth but also requires sustained capital expenditure to expand network coverage.

Digi Communications, listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of about RON 17.4 billion (€3.3 billion), will retain majority control of the Spanish unit. The parent company's decision to list a minority stake rather than sell to a strategic buyer suggests management sees more long-term value in maintaining ownership while accessing public equity markets for growth capital.

The €1.7 billion pre-money valuation implies a multiple of roughly 1.8 times trailing revenue, below the 2-to-3 times range at which some European telecom operators trade, reflecting Digi Spain's lower EBITDA margin relative to incumbents. The company's ability to expand margins toward the 21.6% level achieved in the second half of 2025 will be a key metric for prospective investors.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.