Abertis acquires Italian mobile towers
Date
May 15, 2014
Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest news and business opportunities in your inbox
Abertis has reached an agreement with Atlantia to buy its subsidiary TowerCo, which operates the mobile telecommunications towers on Italy's toll road network. The transaction, that has been completed for a total of €94.6 million, is expected to be closes in the next weeks.
TowerCo provides co-location services to the country's leading mobile telephony operators (Vodafone, Wind, H3G and Telecom Italia). It currently manages 306 own sites (212 towers and 94 points in tunnels) on the over 3,000 kilometres of the toll road network controlled by Atlantia in Italy.
In 2013, TowerCo generated €21 million in revenues and €13 million in EBITDA.
This is Abertis' first operation in the terrestrial telecommunications sector outside Spain, where it already controls a network of near 6,000 sites among broadcast and towering masts. The company thus takes a further step in internationalising its businesses.
The acquisition of TowerCo, which meets the company's strict return and value creation criteria, reinforces Abertis' position in the mobile telephony towers business, where it has carried out major transactions in the last year such as the agreement reached in June 2013 to buy towers from Telefónica and Yoigo.
This acquisition will consolidate the Abertis' position as a key player in the rationalisation of terrestrial and mobile telecommunications infrastructure use in Spain and abroad. The operation will enable it to develop new business opportunities for sharing the infrastructure needed in the rollout of fourth generation mobile telephony.
The transaction will also enable Abertis to continue diversifying into activities other than the terrestrial telecommunications business. After the latest transactions in mobile telephony towers and the takeover of Hispasat in 2013, over 65% of the telecommunications revenues now come from services other than broadcasting.
