Swiss private equity firm bags UK MVNO Lebara

Swiss investor Palmarium has acquired UK-based MVNO Lebara Group for an undisclosed fee.

The acquisition, which was made through the VIEO subsidiary will see Lebara founder and current CEO Ratheesan Yoganathan, as well as the rest of the existing management team will stand-down.

“Lebara is a vibrant and exciting growth business with a great deal of potential,” said Graeme Oxby, who will head up the new leadership team as CEO. “I’m excited to be at the helm, and believe this acquisition, combined with the strength of the n   ew leadership team and its strong investors, will take this business to the next level.”

In Oxby, Lebara has bagged a relatively experienced CEO, who is looking towards digitization of the business moving forward. Prior to heading up the TMT vertical at the Palmarium business, Oxby worked at Three and Virgin before being appointed Managing Director of Liberty Global’s European Mobile Business.

Founded in 2001, Lebara offers SIM-only deals for travellers, students and migrant communities around the world. The business currently has 3.5 million customers, though Yoganathan has put forward some bold ambitions of hitting one billion customers by 2020. This might seem a bit of a high number, but the Swiss have done some wonderful things to chocolate. Maybe they will have the same influence here.