Danish telecoms group TDC is to sell its Swiss mobile arm – Sunrise – to private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners for CHF3.3 billion (US$3.3 billion). The move follows an aborted attempt earlier in the year by TDC to merge Sunrise with France Telecom’s Orange Switzerland, which was blocked by Swiss regulators on competition grounds. TDC CEO Henrik Poulsen described the Swiss disposal as “a natural next step in our wish to focus TDC as a Nordic communications company.” Reuters reports that the sale is also part of a “strategic streamlining” at TDC by its own controlling private-equity owners in preparation for an IPO. TDC has held Sunrise for nearly ten years and claims to have invested more than CHF2 billion in mobile and fixed infrastructure during this period. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter following regulatory approvals.

“Sunrise is a strong operator in one of Europe’s most advanced telecoms markets,” said CVC partner Lorne Somerville. ”We are delighted to add such a high-quality business to our portfolio of European investments, and are fully supportive of the company’s strategy, investment plan and strong management team.” Sunrise is Switzerland’s second-largest mobile operator on around 1.9 million connections at the end of the second quarter, behind dominant market-leader Swisscom (5.7 million). The proposed merger with third-placed Orange Switzerland (1.6 million) was blocked by regulators in April on the grounds that turning the market into a duopoly would have kept prices high for consumers.