CK Hutchison, the parent company of mobile operator 3 Group, has confirmed recent reports that it is in advanced negotiations regarding the sale of its European mobile tower business to Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom, already Europe’s largest mobile towers company. In a statement, CK Hutchison said it has reached “substantial agreement” on the key commercial terms for the disposal of the telecommunications infrastructure assets in Europe held indirectly by its CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings subsidiary to Cellnex. It added that total proceeds on completion of the transactions would amount to around EUR 10 billion, including minority partners’ shares.
CK Hutchison said the deal would envisage Cellnex entering into service agreements with its local units in Europe to continue providing telecommunications infrastructure services and to support an accelerated 5G network rollout through a committed built-to-suit expansion programme.
Cellnex issued a brief statement confirming advanced discussions with Hutchison over “the potential acquisition of certain infrastructure assets and the execution of service contracts” but cautioned that no binding agreement had been reached.
CK Hutchison has been working with advisers to spin off its European towers as a separate subsidiary since revealing plans to create a new infrastructure unit for its 28,500 European masts over a year ago. If confirmed, the transaction would be the largest in the history of Cellnex, boosting its towers footprint by around 40 percent beyond 100,000 sites and allowing it to enter new markets including Austria, Denmark and Sweden.
