Telefonica has announced another fibre deal with KKR, this time agreeing to sell a 60 percent stake in its Colombian fibre to the home (FTTH) network to set up a new wholesale venture open to all operators. In a statement, the Spanish group said it will control 40 percent of the new venture, which intends to bring high-speed internet access to around 4.3 million premises in 90 Colombian cities over the next three years.
The new venture is valued at USD 500 million, or 20 times the current pro forma OIBDA, with Telefonica receiving a payment of USD 200 million for the assets plus an additional performance-based consideration of up to USD 100 million. Telefonica added that the sale will further reduce its net debt by around EUR 200 million.
Telefonica currently has more than 380,000 customers using its Movistar Colombia fibre service at symmetric speeds of up to 500 Mbps via an FTTH infrastructure covering 1.2 million homes in around 50 cities. It said the new deal with KKR to reach 4.3 million homes within 3 years will contribute to the Colombian government’s goals of connecting more than 70 percent of households by 2022.
The agreement comes just a week after Telefonica and KKR launched their new Chilean wholesale fibre-optic company On Net Fibra. The Spanish company has also set up joint ventures in Brazil and Germany over the past year to develop wholesale fibre networks.
