Infrastructure operator Cellnex Telecom has entered into an exclusivity agreement to acquire 100 percent of tower venture Hivory with owners Altice France and Starlight Holdco, subject to approval from the French competition authority. The deal will represent an investment of EUR 5.2 billion for Cellnex, plus a further EUR 0.9 billion to fund an eight-year programme that will include the deployment of up to 2,500 new cell sites. Created in 2018, Hivory manages a footprint of 10,500 towers that mainly serve SFR as anchor tenant.
If approved, the acquisition should be completed in the second half of the year. It would bring to three the number of French mobile network operators that have sold tower assets to the Spanish operator, following previous similar deals with SFR’s rivals Bouygues Telecom and Iliad.
SFR will remain the anchor tenant for the infrastructure under an 18-year agreement, renewable in 5-year periods. In terms of contracted sales, the integration of Hivory will increase Cellnex’s backlog by around EUR 13 billion to EUR 101 billion.
Capital increase of up to EUR 7 billion
Coinciding with the announcement, Cellnex said that it plans to raise up to EUR 7 billion in a new rights issue underwritten by four banks. This will enable the operator to finance a portfolio of projects that could reach in the region of EUR 18 billion over the 18 months following completion. The portfolio includes the acquisition of Hivory and the deal announced on 21 January with Deutsche Telekom for tower assets in the Netherlands.
