Canadian pension fund PSP Investments has reportedly agreed to buy the French unit of towerco TDF for €3.5bn (US$4.37bn).
The deal, which has long been in the pipeline, is expected to be announced within the next few days, according to Reuters citing…
Canadian pension fund PSP Investments has reportedly agreed to buy the French unit of towerco TDF for €3.5bn (US$4.37bn).
The deal, which has long been in the pipeline, is expected to be announced within the next few days, according to Reuters citing people familiar with the matter.
A few months ago, reports had suggested that PSP was the sole suitor for the assets following Dering Capital’s decision to withdraw its €3.7bn offer after the US private equity firm failed to raise enough equity funding.
PSP and its partners are reportedly looking to finance the transaction with a €1.4bn debt package representing 3.6-3.8x the TDF French unit’s core profit.
BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and Societe Generale are expected to provide the financing, Reuters cited two lending sources as saying.
TDF’s shareholders – TPG, Ardian, FSI and Charterhouse, advised by Goldman Sachs and Rothschild – first initiated plans to sell part of the company for around €4bn (US$5.4bn) in mid-2013 to repay its debt, then estimated at €3.8bn.
At the time Dering, which was founded by former Blackstone executive Ben Jenkins, was reported to be competing against Canadian pension funds CPPIB and PSP as well as telecoms tower company American Tower.
But the other suitors later exited the process because TDF’s owners would reportedly not budge from the asking price.
PE firms TPG and Ardian, then known as Axa Private Equity, acquired a 60% stake in TDF in 2006 for €4.85bn (US$6.3bn). The rest of the company is split between French state-owned fund Bpifrance (24%) and the UK’s Charterhouse (14%).
The towerco declined to comment on today’s report, while PSP was not immediately available for comment.
TDF provides radio and TV transmission services using its satellite, internet and tower operations, and is present in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Estonia and Monaco. A few months ago, it sold its Hungarian unit back to the government, at a loss, for US$250m.
