Italian telecoms operator Wind, part of the VimpelCom group, has invited potential investors to submit expressions of interest in its towers by the end of this month, according to an unsourced report by local financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
The sale…
Italian telecoms operator Wind, part of the VimpelCom group, has invited potential investors to submit expressions of interest in its towers by the end of this month, according to an unsourced report by local financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
The sale will concern 40 to 50% of Wind’s 13,000 towers, the report noted, adding that the assets are likely to be auctioned off in October.
A number of potential bidders are currently reviewing a dossier from HSBC and Banca IMI, which are reportedly advising Wind on the deal.
These include Spanish telecoms infrastructure operator Abertis, which in May acquired mobile telecoms towers operator TowerCo for €94.6m (US$129.7m), according to the report.
Mediaset-controlled EI Towers is also expected to be among the potential candidates, along with Italian infrastructure fund F2i and France-based towerco TDF.
Earlier this year, local reports had already suggested that Wind was considering selling some towers, then valued at approximately €500m, to cut its debt pile.
In 2008, Wind and rival operator 3 Italia attempted to sell 18,000 of their combined mobile towers through newly-founded company Eiffel which, at the time, were expected to fetch €1.5bn to €2bn (US$2.06bn to US$2.75bn). The process was put on hold and finally abandoned. Abertis and, separately, Italian tower operator DMT, rebranded EI Towers after the merger with Elettronica Industriale, in partnership with F2i had expressed interest in the towers.
