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Reports emerged in July this year that Cellnex were considering selling a minority stake in its Nordic operations
Investment company Stonepeak has acquired a 49% stake in Cellnex Nordics, which is comprised of Cellnex Sweden and Cellnex Denmark, in a €730 million deal.
Cellnex will retain a 51% stake, continuing to run the day-to-day operations of the Nordic division. Across both Denmark and Sweden, Cellnex has a network of 4,557 sites, and has commitments to build an additional 2,500.
Cellnex will reportedly use the capital raised to reduce its debt, which stood at €17.1 billion at the end of last quarter. This strategy of cutting debt comes after years of rapid growth via various mergers and acquisitions, most notably the takeover of CK Hutchinson’s European towers in 2020, a deal worth around €10 billion.
“The sale of a stake in our Nordic business at an appropriate valuation marks another significant step forward in our goal to attain investment grade ratings,” said Marco Patuano, Cellnex CEO, in a press release.
“We believe Cellnex Nordics, as the region’s leading independent tower company, is strategically well positioned to capture outsized organic and inorganic growth over the coming years,” said Cyrus Gentry, Stonepeak’s Managing Director.
“We view partnering with Cellnex, with its consistent track record of financial performance, execution on built-to-suit delivery, and mergers and acquisitions, as a natural fit for Stonepeak’s Core infrastructure strategy”.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year.
Stonepeak have made a number of recent investments in the telecoms industry. Mosty recently, in August last year, the firm acquired 2,180 towers in the Philippines from Globe Telecom for $472 million. The company also acquired the Latin American business of Lumen Technologies for $2.7 billion last summer.
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