Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — Industry giant PLDT has formally pursued the sale of its tower assets to international investors for a whopping ₱77 billion, higher than its initial estimate, with the deals expected to trigger the tower sharing boom.
The Pangilinan-led company told the local bourse on Tuesday that the transactions — the sale of 5,907 towers and related passive telecom infrastructure — were done through its subsidiaries Smart Communications and Digital Mobile Philippines.
Tower companies (towercos) edotco and EdgePoint were the winning bidders, subsequently making them “the largest common tower operators in the country,” PLDT said.
The transaction price alone has been considered as the “largest ever acquisition of assets in the Philippines by international investors.” PLDT’s top executive earlier pegged the deal to amount to over ₱50 billion.
According to PLDT, edotco Group manages over 54,000 towers across nine countries in Asia while EdgePoint owns some 10,000 towers across Indonesia and Malaysia.
“This partnership with experienced international tower companies represents another milestone in PLDT’s strategic transformation,” PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan was quoted as saying in the disclosure.
PLDT’s wireless business has also entered into a deal that would allow it to lease back the towers sold for 10 years, freeing Smart from costly operating and maintenance expenses.
Under the deal, the two towercos will also deploy 1,500 new towers “over the next few years.”
“We expect to reap benefits in terms of a valuation uplift and capital reallocation with PLDT applying the proceeds to deleverage, further invest in the network, and return cash to shareholders via a special dividend,” Pangilinan added.
PLDT expects to complete the transaction within 2022, with the first closing seen by next month.
