Published 2026-11-04 · Event 2026-11-02 · The editorial team

Competition authority clears Telenor's acquisition of control of data-centre operator Bahnhof

Konkurrensverket, the Swedish Competition Authority, decided on 2 November 2026 to take no action against Telenor Sverige's acquisition of sole control of Bahnhof. According to Telenor, all regulatory conditions for the deal have now been met. Bahnhof operates five of the data centres in the register, four in Stockholm and one in Malmö.

The decision has case number 677/2026. Telenor Sverige Aktiebolag notified the acquisition to Konkurrensverket on 28 September 2026. The authority's investigation focused on fixed broadband services over fibre to end customers, where the two companies overlap. Konkurrensverket concludes that the deal is not likely to significantly impede effective competition.

In the decision Konkurrensverket writes that Bahnhof provides, among other things, cloud services and infrastructure, for example data centres. The authority also looked at a possible market for colocation services. According to the decision, there is no reason to fear a significant impediment to effective competition on such a market. Telenor Sverige belongs to the Telenor group; the decision states that the Norwegian state holds 53.97 percent of the shares in the parent company Telenor ASA.

Telenor said on 2 November that it had also obtained the required foreign direct investment clearance from the Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP) on 20 October 2026. According to Telenor, all regulatory conditions for completing the acquisitions have therefore been satisfied. The acquisitions cover 57.5 percent of the shares and 87.9 percent of the votes in Bahnhof. Telenor expects completion shortly. Bahnhof announced the decision on 3 November.

The deal was announced on 8 July 2026. Bahnhof's founders and principal owners and Öresund Investment then agreed to sell all their shares to Telenor, at SEK 60 and SEK 62 per share respectively. Bahnhof said that, based on the weighted average share price, the company was valued at SEK 6.1 billion on an enterprise-value basis. Once the acquisitions are completed, Telenor becomes the controlling shareholder and must make a mandatory cash offer to the remaining shareholders. Telenor intends to offer SEK 62 per share.

The register lists five data centres with Bahnhof as operator: Pionen, Thule, Gullan and S:t Erik in Stockholm, and Sparven in Malmö. Bahnhof does not state IT load in megawatts for any of them. In July Bahnhof described itself as a player in fibre broadband, data centres and secure digital infrastructure.

Why it matters

When the acquisitions are completed, five data centres in the register, four in Stockholm and one in Malmö, get a new controlling owner. Konkurrensverket found no competition concern on a possible colocation market.

What remains unknown

The completion date, when the mandatory offer will be launched, whether Telenor plans changes to Bahnhof's data-centre business, and the IT capacity of Bahnhof's halls are not stated in the sources.

Sources