Loan will be used to fund 5G mobile infrastructure in five European markets
Debt-laden towerco Cellnex has signed a €315 million loan to with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to boost 5G mobile infrastructure in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Poland.
The project will include new telecoms infrastructure such as mobile phone masts and urban base stations, improvements to enable the infrastructure to be shared by multiple operators, fibre backhaul to connect towers to each operator’s network, distributed antenna systems to significantly increase base station capacity indoors and green initiatives like renewable energies, where practical.
Earlier this year, after borrowing to build the largest mobile mast network in Europe, Cellnex signalled an end to its expansion through acquisition as it instead looked to gain investment grade status after piling on debt to the tune of around €17bn.
Around half of the new masts will be installed in so-called cohesion regions (regions where per capita income is less than 75% of the EU average). The companies believe this aligns with the EU Digital Decade 2030 objectives. This is the second time Cellnex has used the EIB. in 2017, Cellnex received a loan of €100m for the development of mobile infrastructure in Spain and Italy.
Cellnex chief financial officer José Manuel Aisa stressed that the new agreement with the EIB: “strengthens our partnership with one of the European Union’s most important bodies and shows the company’s commitment to contributing to the digital and technological development of the EU.”
He added: “This financing will enable us to continue supporting our clients with the rollout of new sites, ensuring the efficient and seamless deployment of 5G in several countries. We are also very happy with the characteristics of the operation, which has a long maturity and competitive interest rate, allowing us to improve our average debt maturity.”
EIB VP Ricardo Mourinho Félix said: “This finance contract enables the EIB to support a major project that will help accelerate the European digital transition…We are very happy to work with Cellnex on this loan aiming to expand and optimise mobile telecoms infrastructure in five European countries including Spain.”
He added: “This infrastructure — particularly the 5G rollout — is vital to the digital transition and to accelerate access to digital services for all, regardless of location. The agreement…will also increase the density of this infrastructure in cohesion regions, contributing to the EIB’s goal to foster economic, social, and territorial cohesion.”
Pictured left-to-right: Cellnex CFO José Manuel Aisa; EIB VP Ricardo Mourinho Félix; Cellnex CEO Marco Patuano; Cellnex global finance director Isard Serra; Cellnex global corporate governance, legal financing and M&A director Virginia Navarro.