Altice mobile phone towers: Digital Bridge joins fray - sources
25 APR 2018
Altice [AMS:ATC], the telecommunications group, has seen Digital Bridge join the bidding for both its French and Portuguese telecoms towers, said two sources familiar and a source briefed with the situation.
Digital Bridge could not be reached for comment.
Bidders for the Portuguese assets include Cellnex [BME:CLNX], Blackstone, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and Axion, while bidders for the France assets include TDF and American Tower [NYSE:AMT], said the first source.
A consortium of infrastructure funds were said to be bidding for the French assets, said a second source briefed on the situation.
Altice seems rather interested in infrastructure funds, said the first source briefed.
Altice has yet to decide whether to offer a majority stake in its French towers business, said one Madrid-based banker who is following the situation. This means that the French auction will appeal more to financial buyers than strategic ones, who might try to pick up some of the towers in the future, this banker said.
While non-binding bidders have been shortlisted, there is no formal information on the bid timetable, said a person briefed on the situation.
The sale of the Portuguese assets is expected close in the second quarter while France will close in the third quarter, said the first source briefed with the situation and the person briefed. Another person familiar with the situation suggested it was possible the French process could close before June.
Altice is advised by JP Morgan and Lazard, as reported.
The 10,000 French towers could fetch around EUR 0.2m apiece, pointing to a total valuation of EUR 2bn. The Portuguese and French assets have an EBITDA of EUR 35m and EUR 200m, respectively, as reported.
Cellnex, Altice, American Tower and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Blackstone, TDF, and Axion did not reply to requests for comment.