Operator iliad has sold its current stake (30%) in OnTower Poland, the Polish telecommunications infrastructure company controlled by Cellnex (which holds 70%). The company was set up by both operators in 2021 as part of Cellnex’s acquisition of the network of some 7,000 sites from mobile operator Play in Poland.
Cellnex will now control 100% of this Group’s subsidiary in Poland. The transaction amount is €510 million (US$557 million).
This transaction, says Cellnex, must be seen as “an intermediate step in the process of actively assessing strategic options for our current portfolio in order to crystallize value and accelerate the path to the Investment Grade rating”.
OnTower Poland currently operates a total of 8,500 sites in Poland and plans to deploy up to 3,400 new sites up to 2030. It has a 20-year service provision contract with Play, extendable for additional successive ten-year periods.
Cellnex describes itself as “the independent wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures operator that enables operators to access Europe’s most extensive network of advanced telecommunications infrastructures on a shared-use basis”.
Founded in 1999, the iliad Group is a major player in the European telecoms sector. The Group now operates in France, Italy and Poland and has over 16,700 employees serving 46.5 million active subscribers.