Telecom Infrastructure Deal of the Year 2015 shortlist includes 11.5 billion dollars of deals

Oct. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Seven telecom infrastructure deals worth a combined total of US$11.5bn have been shortlisted for the Telecom Infrastructure Deal of the Year which will be presented at TMT Finance World 2015 Awards (http://www.tmtfinance.com/world/awards/) in London on December 1.

The strength of this year’s shortlists reflects an exceptional 12 months for deal making in the telecom infrastructure sector globally, as many of the world’s largest telecom operator’s spin off infrastructure assets while specialist investors buy and build regional infrastructure portfolios.

The shortlist includes Cellnex’s acquisition of Wind’s mobile towers portfolio in Italy; US$2.8bn of mobile tower acquisitions by IHS and American Tower in Nigeria; private equity-led takeovers in France and Australia, the first worldwide voluntary structural separation of a telecom incumbent (CETIN); and the acquisition of Dutch fibre operator Eurofiber.

“Infrastructure investment is critical for telecoms growth and the strength of this year’s shortlist shows that telecom companies and investors are successfully finding new, more sustainable ways to support investment,” said Dominic Lowndes, Managing Director, TMT Finance, the event organisers. “We expect a lot more deals in this space next year and the shortlist offers an interesting insight into what options and structures are available.”

The winner will be selected by a Judges Panel comprising 15 of the most experienced and active TMT bankers and advisers globally and presented at the Pullman Hotel, London St Pancras on December 1.

Awards will also be presented for Telecom M&A Deal of the Year: IPO, M&A Adviser, World Leadership, Financing Bank, Law Firm and Growth Story.

The 2015 Telecom Infrastructure Deal of the Year shortlist is:

1/ Cellnex’s acquisition of 7,377 towers from Wind in Italy

·       Valuation: E693m (US$715m) for 90% stake in the tower company (WIND will keep the remaining 10%)

·       Closed: March 2015

·       Advisers: Mediobanca and Goldman Sachs advised Abertis, HSBC and Banca IMI are advising VimpelCom and Wind Italia.

2/ Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets’ acquisition of Crown Castle Australia

·       Valuation: AU$2bn (US$1.6bn)

·       Closed: June 2015

·       Advisers: Macquarie Capital advised the winning consortium; Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse advised Crown Castle.

3/ O2 Czech’s separation and sale of Ceska Telekomunikacni Infrastruktura (CETIN)

·       Valuation: debt totaling CZK 32.2bn (US$1.35bn)

·       Closed: June 2015

·       Advisers: Societe Generale acted as Financial Advisor, Coordinator, Bookrunner and MLA

4/ IHS’ acquisition of 9,151 towers from MTN Nigeria

·       Valuation: c. US$1.8bn

·       Closed: First tranche Dec 2014; Second tranche: July 2015

·       Goldman Sachs advised IHS on the transaction; Citi advised MTN

5/ American Tower Corp’s acquisition of c.4,700 towers in Nigeria from Bharti Airtel

·       Valuation: US$1.05bn

·       Closed: July 2015

·       Both parties self-advised

6/ Brookfield, PSP, Arcus and APG’s acquisition of TDF France from TPG, Charterhouse, Ardian and Bpifrance

·       Deal valued at E3.5bn (US$3.97bn)

·       Closed: March 2015

·       Morgan Stanley advised PSP Investments; Rothschild and Goldman Sachs advised the sellers

7/ Antin Infrastructure Partners acquisition of Eurofiber Group from Doughty Hanson and Reggeborgh

·       Valuation: E875m (US$993m)

·       Closed: May 2015

·       Jefferies advised Doughty Hanson; UBS advised Antin

The Awards ceremony follows TMT Finance World Congress 2015 (http://www.tmtfinance.com/world) which gathers the leading telecom, media and technology executives, investment bankers, investors and advisers to assess investment opportunities globally.

Find out more at www.tmtfinance.com/world