Apax is nearing a deal to buy Warburg Pincus out of their joint investment in Dutch telecoms group Odido, months after the private equity groups abandoned a highly anticipated listing of the business. The deal would value Odido at about €6.5bn, according to people familiar with the matter. An agreement might be reached in the coming days, although talks could still shift.

Odido, which posted revenues of €2.4bn last year, is the largest mobile provider in the Netherlands with more than 7.5mn customers, and a leading fibre-optic broadband provider. A sale follows Apax and Warburg Pincus pulling their planned listing due to market instability concerns. Odido was rocked by a cyber attack that leaked millions of customers' personal details, prompting CEO apology.

Warburg and Apax, who acquired Odido from Deutsche Telekom and Tele2 for €5.1bn in 2022, have sought to expand against rivals KPN and Vodafone Ziggo. Prospective buyers have included STC, Saudi Arabia's state-backed telecoms group. Vodafone Ziggo recently merged into Ziggo Group with US group taking 90% stake. Warburg, Apax and STC declined to comment.