3i Infrastructure has mandated Houlihan Lokey to lead a potential full sale of its global subsea fibre optic network and data centre business, FLAG.

Teasers have been distributed for the process, while the issuance of an IM and a first round of bidding could potentially kick off before the end of October, according to two sources.

FLAG is understood to have achieved EUR 215m revenue and EUR 63m EBITDA for 2025.

In terms of valuation, multiples of eight or nine expected to be achieved. One contact suggested 3i would be targeting multiples as high as 12.

No more than three parties are expected to engage with the process, one source said, although suspected bidding parties are not yet known.

FLAG is a global subsea fibre optic network company with over 80,000km of cable spanning North America, Europe and Asia, as per its website.

Within its portfolio, FLAG has deployment-ready cable landing stations across the UK, France, USA, Taiwan and Japan. It provides prefabricated, modular edge data centres designed for rapid deployment at cable landing stations and network edge locations.

3i Infrastructure completed its USD 512m acquisition of Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) in September 2022, subsequently renaming the company FLAG.

3i Infrastructure declined to comment while Houlihan Lokey did not respond.