London-based mobile operator Lebara is considering a sale or an IPO, its chief executive Stephen Shurrock told the FT.

Owned by investment groups Alchemy and Triton, Lebara has grown rapidly since 2019 as consumers sought cheaper mobile deals: the company expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to reach £70 million in 2024, double the 2020 figure.

Chief executive Stephen Shurrock told the FT that Lebara is currently working with financial services provider Guggenheim to review strategic options, but stressed that discussions were still at an early stage and no decision had been made.

“Under our current ownership, we really had a mandate to ‘fix what is,'” Shurrock told the FT. “The transformation of the company is very extensive.”

Lebara was founded in 2001 and initially offered cheap international calls to migrants in Europe. Today, the company is present in nine countries and serves more than five million customers worldwide.

Lebara offers consumers affordable mobile phone deals with no obligations.

The company operates as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and sells mobile services under its brand name via the network of a licensed mobile operator – in the case of Lebara, primarily Vodafone.

MVNOs can operate with a leaner business model than traditional providers because they have lower infrastructure and maintenance costs and therefore lower overheads.

The cost of living crisis has boosted consumer demand in the sector as consumers switched from major telecom operators to carriers in search of cheaper deals in the market. At the same time, the pandemic helped boost MVNOs’ online sales.

Since 2020, Lebara has increased its customer base by 67 percent – ​​1.6 million new customers have been added.

There are several MVNOs in the UK market, including GiffGaff, Virgin Mobile and Smarty.

City AM has asked Lebara for a comment.