Blackstone-backed towerco makes the country its largest market
US-headquartered towerco Phoenix Tower International (PTI) has expanded its French footprint after closing two deals for just under 2000 more urban sites in the country.
The deals include the acquisition of 1,226 sites hosting SFR through a subsidiary 100% owned by PTI and the expansion of Phoenix France Infrastructures 2, a subsidiary of PTI, through the addition of 752 sites hosting Bouygues Telecom.
Following the acquisitions, along with its previously announced build programme, PTI will own more than 3,600 sites in France and the company said it is on track to own and operate more than 5,000 sites within two years, making it one of the largest independent wireless infrastructure providers in the country.
France will also become PTI’s largest market across the 21 markets it is present in globally, based on the number of sites. The towerco owns and operates more than 22,000 telecom towers throughout Europe, the US, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Europe, PTI is present in several countries including France, Italy, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus.
“With these transactions, PTI diversifies its portfolio across France with sites located all over the country, including major cities to better serve the populations with strong wireless connectivity,” said PTI CEO Dagan Kasavana.
“France is one of the most dynamic telecom markets in Europe and PTI’s growth will continue facilitating coverage deployments for all French wireless operators across the country. We are pleased to have collaborated with the professionals at Cellnex, Bouygues Telecom and SFR on these transactions,” he added.
“These various transactions continue to strengthen PTI’s commitment to France and the European market,” said PTI executive chairman Tim Culver. “We are excited to continue to expand our relationship with our customers and pursue the implementation of our business model in France which will be a catalyst for improved coverage for all carriers.”
In March last year PTI acquired 1,226 urban sites from Cellnex Telecom in a deal which included French operator SFR as a second major client. PTI is also in a joint venture with Bouygues Telecom which saw it acquiring 2,000 sites in urban areas. Both deals were subject to legal precedents created by the French Competition Authority’s (FCA’s) ruling on Cellnex’s acquisition of Hivory.
Cellnex has received around €631m from the sale of these assets, which in addition to the latest 1,978 sites, adds another 150 sites executed in the first half of the year, plus 225 sites executed on 1 August. The towerco will use the funds to reduce debt. The transfer of the approximately 870 remaining sites, which were part of the FCA’s remedies, is expected to be concluded by 2024.
Cellnex still manages a total of c.30.000 sites in France, including forecast rollouts up to 2030, for three of the large MNOs operating in the country (Bouygues Telecom, Free and SFR).
In 2020, Bouygues Telecom teamed up with PTI to develop around 4,000 new wireless towers over 12 years outside densely populated areas of France.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Natixis acted as advisors to PTI for the latest deal.