Altice plots European TowerCo
June 21, 2018
Altice Europe has announced that its subsidiary Altice France has entered into an exclusivity agreement, and its subsidiary PT Portugal has reached an agreement regarding the sale of equity stakes in their telecommunication tower businesses in France and Portugal for a total cash consideration of €2.5 billion. As part of the transaction, Altice Europe would create one of the largest European Towercos, including the #1 TowerCo in France.
The two transactions once realised would generate significant proceeds for Altice Europe and underscore its commitment to deleveraging and balance sheet management, the compnay said. Importantly, the transactions will strengthen both Altice France and PT Portugal to pursue their long-term industrial projects and continue to provide best-in-class telecommunication services to their subscribers.
The future tower companies, whose perimeter will include passive infrastructure and equipment, will be uniquely placed to offer higher quality shared passive infrastructure services needed to support the expansion in France and Portugal of wireless services using 4G/5G technologies for the benefit of consumers and businesses. Services will be available to all mobile network operators in France and Portugal. In conjunction with these projected transactions, Altice France and PT Portugal will enter into 20-year master agreements.
Altice founder Patrick Drahi said: “I am enthusiastic about creating new tower partnerships in France and Portugal. With KKR, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Horizon Equity Partners, we have found long-term partners of the highest-quality who share our vision to invest in leading infrastructure and growth opportunities. We will create a leading European tower business, including the #1 in France. Both tower businesses will be uniquely positioned to grow as they provide increasingly important infrastructure services to operators in both markets. Simultaneously, these transactions underline our commitment to deliver and proactively manage our balance sheet while highlighting the significant underlying value of Altice Europe’s business”.