Deutsche Telekom to sell 51% of towers business

LONDON/BERLIN, July 14 (Reuters) – Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) has agreed to provide 51% of its towers small business to a consortium of Canada’s Brookfield and U.S. non-public fairness firm DigitalBridge after they built a shock previous-moment bid that valued the device at 17.5 billion euros ($17.5 billion).

Brookfield (BAMa.TO) had at first served to fund a binding bid by Spanish telecoms business Cellnex (CLNX.MC), prior to Cellnex withdrew on Wednesday. read through far more

The German telecoms large will preserve the remaining 49% stake of the GD Towers organization, with the deal predicted to near in the direction of the finish of the yr.

Proceeds of 10.7 billion euros will assistance Deutsche Telekom minimize credit card debt, while it performs in the direction of obtaining a vast majority share in its T-Cell U.S. subsidiary.

“We crystalise the value of our tower assets, therefore making worth for our shareholders,” Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges stated.

Brookfield and DigitalBridge (DBRG.N) “have deep pockets for the coming ways,” Höttges additional, indicating their function in fostering field consolidation in the course of a media briefing.

Deutsche Telekom shares ended up down 1.6% at 1102 GMT.

The deal is Germany’s most significant this 12 months and Europe’s second greatest, soon after the Benetton family and U.S. fund Blackstone’s (BX.N) 58 billion euro takeover of Italian infrastructure team Atlantia (ATL.MI). read through extra

The towers sale kicked off in March, drawing awareness from heavyweight economical buyers together with U.S. buyout fund KKR (KKR.N) which teamed up with Worldwide Infrastructure Companions (GIP) and Stonepeak on a rival bid. read through additional

Many telecoms corporations have carved out towers organizations, or released joint ventures with other businesses, to elevate money although retaining a stake in functions.

Goldman Sachs suggested Deutsche Telekom on the sale, while Perella Weinberg Companions, Evercore and Barclays labored with DigitalBridge along with regulation corporations Allen & Overy and Morgan Lewis.

With all over 800 personnel, GD Towers operates radio towers at more than 40,000 places in Germany and Austria. In 2021, the enterprise obtained gross sales of all-around 1.1 billion euros.

Vodafone’s Frankfurt-stated towers business Vantage Towers (VTWRn.DE) and American Tower (AMT.N) experienced regarded bids before in the auction method. browse more

“The partnership remaining shaped now is about building the future technology electronic infrastructure winner of Europe,” said DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi.

The infrastructure investment decision firm manages $47 billion of assets targeted on electronic infrastructure these as wi-fi towers, info centers and fiber networks.

($1 = .9981 euros)

Reporting by Emma-Victoria Farr in London and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf
Composing by Rachel Additional in Berlin Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Mark Potter

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.