Offers for towerco TeleDiffusion de France (TDF)’s French assets came below a minimum asking price of €4bn (US$5.3bn), three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
The €4bn estimated value for the transaction is based on the French…
Offers for towerco TeleDiffusion de France (TDF)’s French assets came below a minimum asking price of €4bn (US$5.3bn), three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
The €4bn estimated value for the transaction is based on the French assets’ EBITDA of €380m and multiples of 10.5-11.5. A person close the matter told TelecomFinance that a sale is unlikely to happen below the €3.8bn mark but a Reuters source said that the highest offer came at about €3.7bn.
As a result, the lower-than-expected bids question whether the deal will go ahead but also TDF’s ability to repay its debt, the Reuters sources were quoted as saying.
Two years ago, the towerco won approval to renegotiate its debt structure. Most of its €4.35bn debt is now due in 2016 after 90% of the lenders agreed to a maturity extension.
Speculation about a TDF sale first emerged in May this year, when it was reported that PE firms TPG and Axa Private Equity, which together control 60% of the towerco, were considering options for the company.
First-round bids were due on 9 August with Goldman Sachs and Rothschild organising the sale process, it has been confirmed.
Among the rumoured bidders were Canadian pension funds CPP and PSP Investments, US telecom tower companies American Tower and Crown Castle, Australian investment firms Macquarie and AMP Capital, as well as French infrastructure group Antin.
Provided the sale of its French and main unit was successful, TDF would also try to offload its German assets.
TPG and Axa acquired a majority stake in TDF in 2006 for €4.85bn (US$6.3bn). The rest of the company is split between French state-owned fund FSI (24%) and UK’s Charterhouse (14%).
TDF, TPG and Axa were not immediately available for comment.
