The landscape of telecommunications in Sweden and Denmark is set to undergo a seismic shift, following the announcement of an agreement between investment firm Stonepeak and tower company Cellnex. Stonepeak has agreed to acquire a 49% interest in Cellnex’s Sweden and Denmark units, for a reported €730 million fee.
The deal includes an agreement that Cellnex will continue to manage day-to-day operations of both units, collectively known as Cellnex Nordics. With an existing roster of 4,557 sites under their purview, Cellnex Nordics also has a promising future ahead, with commitments to further construct approximately 2,500 additional sites in the region.
However, this change in ownership does not imply a straightforward handover. The deal is yet to obtain regulatory approval, but parties involved anticipate the agreement to be concluded by the latest in the first quarter of 2024.
Notably, the aim for Cellnex is to use this surge of financial backing for a debt reduction strategy in pursuit of an investment grade credit rating by S&P. On the significance of this deal, Marco Patuano, the CEO of Cellnex, stated, “The sale of a stake in our Nordic business at an appropriate valuation marks another significant step forward in our goal to attain investment grade ratings.” He went on to highlight Cellnex’s capacity to “attract the interest of high-quality financial partners,” in an apparent nod to Stonepeak.
The perspective from the incoming firm is equally optimistic. Cyrus Gentry, Stonepeak’s Managing Director, lauded Cellnex Nordics as being “strategically well positioned to capture outsized organic and inorganic growth over the coming years.”
Further analysis on the deal by Jeffries Equity Research views this as part of the new CEO Marco Patuano’s strategy. There’s an emphasis on leveraging the acquired capital to achieve a coveted S&P investment-grade credit rating. The report says that the “premium valuation is consistent with the CEO’s insistence that any asset sales would only be considered if the offer recognised the quality of the assets.”
This step is clearly seen as part of a broader shift in Cellnex’s strategy, following the change in CEO earlier in the year. With Marco Patuano replacing the previous CEO Tobias Martinez, it’s clear that the company is turning towards a more conservative period of consolidation after a fervent period of tower acquisitions across Europe in the last 8 years.
As the dust gradually settles on this landmark agreement, it’s evident that the stage is set for a new chapter in the telecommunications infrastructure landscape of Sweden and Denmark.
