18,000 towers owned by KPN’s German E-Plus subsidiary have received first round bids from private equity firms and other parties, according to people familiar with the process cited by Reuters.
The assets, which are valued at between €300m to…
18,000 towers owned by KPN’s German E-Plus subsidiary have received first round bids from private equity firms and other parties, according to people familiar with the process cited by Reuters.
The assets, which are valued at between €300m to €400m, have attracted PE firms KKR and EQT, French TDF Group, and Antin Infrastructure Partners, the article stated with reference to one of the sources. The parties still in the race are now conducting due diligence.
KPN hired UBS several months ago to help with the disposal of the German tower assets.
Macquarie and an infrastructure fund owned by Dutch Rabobank had been mentioned as potential buyers previously, but Macquarie is now said to have dropped out of the process.
The tower sale is one of several disposals considered by the Dutch incumbent in recent months. Earlier in the year the company had also assessed strategic options for the German unit as a whole, and had reviewed its Dutch Base unit. None of the reviews, however, resulted in a sale.
KPN has never confirmed that it is looking to sell towers in Germany, but had said in June, when admitting that talks to sell E-Plus as a whole had failed, that it was still working toward further consolidation within the German market.
“KPN has an even stronger belief in the potential significant synergy value which could be created through in-market consolidation in Germany and is convinced that other parties share this view,” the company said at the time.
The final bidding round for KPN’s German towers will take place before the end of the month, today’s report stated.
