Spanish infrastructure company Abertis has agreed to buy Italy’s TowerCo as it seeks to expand internationally.
Abertis will pay €94.6m (US$129.7m) to acquire TowerCo, which operates mobile telecoms towers on toll roads in Italy, from Italian…
Spanish infrastructure company Abertis has agreed to buy Italy’s TowerCo as it seeks to expand internationally.
Abertis will pay €94.6m (US$129.7m) to acquire TowerCo, which operates mobile telecoms towers on toll roads in Italy, from Italian motorway operator Atlantia, the companies said in separate statements.
TowerCo manages 306 sites – 212 towers and 94 tunnel-based sites – along the more than 3,000km of the toll road network controlled by Atlantia. It provides co-location services to Italian mobile operators Telecom Italia, Vodafone, Wind and H3G.
TowerCo generated €21m (US$28.8m) in revenues and €13m (US$17.8m) in EBITDA in 2013, according to Abertis.
Atlantia received advice on the deal from Goldman Sachs and Equita SIM, which also provided a fairness opinion.
The deal, expected to close within the next few weeks, marks Abertis’ first foray into the terrestrial telecoms sector outside Spain, where it claims to control nearly 6,000 sites.
Barcelona-based Abertis said the purchase strengthens its position in the mobile telecoms tower sector, following on from similar deals over the past year, such as its 2013 agreement to buy towers from Spanish incumbent Telefonica and mobile operator Yoigo.
“The operation will enable [the company] to develop new business opportunities for sharing the infrastructure needed in the rollout of fourth generation mobile technology,” it added.
Abertis noted that, following recent tower deals and the acquisition of control over Spanish satellite operator Hispasat, more than 65% of its telecoms revenues come from services other than broadcasting.
The company has also been named as a potential bidder for Telecom Italia and Wind’s towers in Italy.
