Mexican wireline operator Axtel has completed the US$250m sale of 883 telecommunications sites to MATC Digital, the local subsidiary of American Tower.
The fixed-line operator will lease back space on the towers with contracts ranging between six and 15…
Mexican wireline operator Axtel has completed the US$250m sale of 883 telecommunications sites to MATC Digital, the local subsidiary of American Tower.
The fixed-line operator will lease back space on the towers with contracts ranging between six and 15 years in length.
Axtel first revealed it was in negotiations at the end of last year, when it said that the lease-back arrangements would be for around US$20m, however it did not disclose the final figure it had reached with American Tower.
Citigroup acted as financial advisor to Axtel on the tower sale transaction.
The tower sale was provisional on the closing of Axtel’s previously announced tender offer for two tranches of notes with a combined value of US$765m, which the fixed-line operator has also sealed. Bondholders received US$365m in new senior secured notes due 2020, US$114.8m in cash, and the equivalent of US$26.3m in peso-denominated convertible dollar-indexed notes – equivalent to just under 10% of the operator’s market capitalisation – in return.
Lazard and Alfaro, Davila y Rios acted as financial advisors to Axtel on the exchange offers and consent solicitations.
“With the conclusion of our recapitalization plan, the company now has a solid capital structure that will support the implementation of its strategic initiatives and enhance its growth prospects,” said CFO Felipe Canales.
Axtel said the measures reduced US$310m in debt and, on a pro-forma basis for the twelve-month period ending on 30 September 2012, its net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio decreased from 3.4x to 2.1x.
In Axtel’s Q3 results it reported net debt of US$831m, down from US$873m in the previous quarter.
For American Tower the deal represents the carry-over of its acquisitive strategy from 2012. The towerco spent US$1.3bn on assets in Q4.
It spent US$525.7m on buying over 2,000 towers in Germany from KPN subsidiary E-Plus, US$506.6m on 680 towers in the US, and made two acquisitions of small portfolios in Mexico and Colombia.
American Tower issued US$1bn in 10-year notes at the start of the year to refinance debt incurred under its credit facilities in relation to the Q4 transactions.
Before the Q4 acquisitions American Tower had already bought over 3,500 tower sites for US$823m in 2012.
American Tower currently owns and operates over 53,000 towers across the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Uganda.