Globe Telecom has sold more than 5,700 of its mobile towers, with another 1,350 towers pending
Filipino carrier Globe Telecom has confirmed the sale of 5,709 cellular towers in a deal worth $1.28 billion. According to the telco, the majority of the funds will go towards the expansion of its network and data-related services, while the remainder — roughly a quarter — will be used to pay off debts.
Globe Telecom Chief Executive Ernest Cu stated the the company believe that these these monetization efforts will enable the company to “further improve overall operational efficiency, allowing [it] to serve [its] customers better.”
Frontier Tower Associates Philippines, a unit of KKR-backed Pinnacle Towers, will buy 3,529 of the towers for sale, while Stonepeak, through a joint venture with electric power distribution company Manila Electric, will acquire another 2,180 of the towers for approximately $472.2 million.
“As Stonepeak continues to expand its presence in the Asia Pacific region, we remain deeply committed to sourcing attractive digital infrastructure investment opportunities for our limited partners,” Darren Keogh, senior managing director at Stonepeak, said in a statement. “We believe the growth prospects in the Philippines mobile tower industry are robust and as such are excited to acquire this substantial portfolio of tower assets with Globe as a long-term anchor tenant and the opportunity to build additional towers over the next four years.”
Further, Globe Telecom is in talks with a third unnamed tower company regarding the sale and potential lease-back of an additional 1,350 towers, which would leave the carrier with 4,000 to 5,000 company-owned telecoms towers.
The current deal is set to conclude by the end of this quarter, and in 15 years, Globe Telecom will lease back the towers.
