Telefonica is evaluating the sale of its data centre business with a view to cutting down its debt pile, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg. The company has hired financial advisers and is currently in the process of gauging interest from potential buyers including data centre specialist firms as well as infrastructure and private-equity funds, said the sources, adding that the sale could earn the Spanish group EUR 500 million to EUR 1 billion, depending on the assets included.
Telefonica currently owns data centres in Spain, the US and Latin America, although the report cautions that the strategic review is in its early stages. Earlier this year, Spanish daily El Confidencial reported that Telefonica’s board of directors had opened discussions on the possible sale of part of its fixed line network in Spain to lower debt and increase the company's stock market value
The company has invested some EUR 3 billion in the last two years to expand its domestic fibre-optic network to around 20 million homes and this year sold 10 percent of its submarine cable and tower unit Telxius to Pontegadea for EUR 378.8 million, after last year divesting 40 percent to private equity firm KKR for EUR 1.275 billion.
