Mobile phone tower
Vodafone is reviewing the offers and has not yet made a decision.
(Photo: dpa)
Singapore, London Global infrastructure funds have turned a blind eye to Vodafone’s radio tower subsidiary Vantage Towers, according to insiders. The bidders, including investment firms Brookfield and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), had submitted unsolicited bids, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Düsseldorf-based Vantage Towers will be valued higher than the current market value of around 15 billion euros.
In the stock market, the potential interest caused a buying mood. Meanwhile, Vantage shares jumped 11.4 percent to more than 33 euros on Friday. Exactly one year ago, the company debuted on the Frankfurt trading floor at 24.80 euros. For the Vodafone paper, it was up 1.4 percent.
According to the insiders, the interested parties are aiming for a majority. Vodafone is reviewing the offers and has not yet made a decision. In view of the expensive 5G network setup and the high demand due to the advancing digitization, infrastructure providers are currently enjoying great popularity. It is easier for them than mobile phone companies to rent out the masts on the ground and on house roofs to several users at the same time, which promises recurring revenues and predictable investments for years to come. Vantage now has around 82,000 radio mast locations in ten European countries.
According to two insiders, the British telecom group Vodafone is in favor of a merger of Vantage with a competitor – either the radio tower business of Deutsche Telekom or Orange’s infrastructure subsidiary Totem. The company’s CEO, Nick Read, has also made similar comments in the past. Vodafone holds around 81 percent of the company, which employs around 420 people. However, Britons have been under pressure to make more of their individual businesses since activist investor Cevian joined. Read had expressed the possibility of reducing the Vantage stake, but continued to control the daughter. In Spain, Vodafone’s hands are now apparently tied, as the two competitors – France’s largest telecom group Orange and MasMovil – are negotiating a merger of their businesses.
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Vodafone, Orange and Brookfield declined to comment. GIP was not available at first. A spokesman for Deutsche Telekom referred to the statements of CEO Tim Höttges from the recent capital market Day, according to which Deutsche Telekom is examining all strategic options for the radio tower subsidiary. According to insiders, the Bonn-based Dax Group has now initiated the multi-billion dollar sales process for its radio tower subsidiary. According to this, Deutsche Telekom should accept bids by the end of next week. Among the bidders should be Europe’s industry leader Cellnex.
More: Why Deutsche Telekom continues to rely on Russian programmers
