American Tower Corporation announced that Allianz will soon be joining the company as a shareholder in its European towers business. The insurer has agreed to buy a 10 percent stake valued at over EUR 530 million in ATC Europe, reinforcing ATC Europe’s estimated enterprise value of over EUR 8.8 billion.
American Tower will retain managerial and operational control, as well as day-to-day oversight of ATC Europe, while Allianz will obtain seats on ATC Europe’s board of directors, along with certain governance rights.
American Tower CEO Tom Bartlett said the investment will help the company grow its business while strengthening mobile broadband access in its served markets. The company earlier sold a 30 percent stake in ATC Europe to Canadian investor CDPQ for EUR 1.6 billion. This follows its takeover of much of Telefonica's towers in Europe.
Allianz said the deal complements its existing digital infrastructure investments in FTTH roll-outs, such as a joint venture with Telefonica in Germany. In addition, the latest investment will contribute to further positioning ATC Europe in some of the insurer’s core markets, including Germany, France and Spain.
