Teliasonera invests US$115 million in Spotify

Nordic telco Teliasonera has agreed to invest US$115 million (€102 million) in Spotify in return for a 1.4% stake in the music streaming business. 

The deal, which values Spotify at US$8.2 billion, will see both companies commit “resources, staff and other assets” to work on joint innovation in areas like media distribution, customer insights, data analytics and advertising.

“We’ve set-out to create a new generation telco where innovation is key to our success. Spotify is a great company, loved by customers and with a world class take on innovation I’m excited to join Spotify’s journey as investor and key partner”, said Teliasonera president and CEO, Johan Dennelind.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the cash comes as part of a wider US$526 million funding round by Spotify, with other investment coming from the likes of UK asset managers Baillie Gifford, Landsdowne Partners and Rinkelberg Capital, and Canadian hedge funds Senvest Capital and Discovery Capital Management.