Deals
Billionaire Niel Agrees to $3 Billion of Phone Tower Sales to Cellnex
- Billionaire’s carriers to use cash for networks, cutting debt
- Iliad and Salt face mounting competitive pressure in Europe
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Billionaire Xavier Niel’s phone carriers are raising about 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) of cash through the sale of towers to Cellnex Telecom SA, as they prepare for a wave of investment to boost coverage.
Niel’s Iliad SA and Salt Mobile SA are together selling about 10,700 telecommunications masts to the Spanish tower operator, in three separate deals in France, Italy and Switzerland, the companies said in statements Tuesday. Shares of Iliad rose as much as 7 percent in Paris trading, while Cellnex surged 8.8 percent in Madrid.