Spanish infrastructure operator Abertis aims to reach an agreement with Italy’s Wind Telecomunicazioni for the acquisition of its tower portfolio by the end of the month.
During a press conference on the group’s 2014 results, Abertis CFO Jose Aljaro…
Spanish infrastructure operator Abertis aims to reach an agreement with Italy’s Wind Telecomunicazioni for the acquisition of its tower portfolio by the end of the month.
During a press conference on the group’s 2014 results, Abertis CFO Jose Aljaro said the two parties were still negotiating some details, but could reach a resolution this February.
Early this month, the tollroad operator said its tower unit, Abertis Telecom Terrestre (ATT), would hold exclusive talks with Vimpelcom-owned Wind until mid-February over the sale of the carrier’s 7,000 towers, which are worth an estimated €800m.
HSBC and Banca Imi are reportedly advising the seller.
Wind, Italy’s third-largest mobile operator, aims to sell and lease back the assets to reduce its debt burden, which stood at nearly €10bn as of 30 September 2014.
The telco is also rumoured to be in takeover talks with Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 Italia, the country’s fourth carrier.
Last October, Abertis said it would list its towers on the Madrid stock exchange in the first half of 2015.
If the deal goes through, it will be its second Italian acquisition in less than a year. Last May, the company acquired TowerCo, which operates mobile telecoms towers on toll roads in Italy, from Italian motorway operator Atlantia for €94.6m.
Abertis posted €4.8bn in annual revenues, up 7% from €4.5bn in 2013.
EBITDA stood at €3.1bn, a 10% increase on the previous year’s result, while net debt rose by €859m to €13.8bn.
