American Tower Corporation and Dutch pension fund manager PGGM have entered into a definitive agreement with private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners to acquire FPS Towers through their new joint venture ATC Europe, created in October. The deal covers 100 percent of the outstanding shares of FPS Towers for a total consideration of EUR 697 million. American Tower and PGGM expect to fund the equity portion of the transaction proportionally to their interests in the joint venture, while American Tower expects to fund the debt portion. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.
FPS Towers’ current owner, Antin Infrastructure Partners, had started looking for a buyer in July, hoping to attract bids in the region of EUR 1 billion. Spanish infrastructure operator Cellnex Telecom reportedly placed an initial bid for the business in July. FPS Towers was created in 2012, when it acquired almost 2,000 masts from Bouygues Telecom. It currently manages 2,500 masts and 20,000 rooftop sites across France.
