Private Equity News & Analysis

Storm put into receivership

KPMG has been appointed administrator following the broadband provider's failure to secure a financing package.

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Storm Telecommunications, the UK-based privately owned bandwidth provider, has gone into administration after failing to raise additional financing.

The company, which reported turnover of £52m in 2000, was the subject of an $50m MBO backed by Soros Private Equity Partners in February 2001. Storm then received an additional $35m financing from Soros and Merrill Lynch Ventures in July, taking the total funding received since the company’s inception in 1998 to $400m.

On February 12, the company announced that it had signed up its first customer for its 'ethernet-on-demand' service, which allows companies to pay only for the bandwidth they use rather than fixed leased capacity.