GIP, KKR Among Firms Eyeing Stake in Cellnex’s Polish Unit

Gillian Tan, Dinesh Nair and Vinicy Chan, Bloomberg News

Parabolic antenna sit on the Rocacorba broadcasting tower alongside a yellow satellite dish in Girona, Spain, on Thursday July 16, 2020. Cellnex Telecom SA is considering bidding for a stake in CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.’s European wireless tower business, according to people familiar with the matter, as it scouts for new acquisitions. Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Global Infrastructure Partners and the infrastructure arms of KKR & Co. and Macquarie Group Ltd. are among suitors considering the purchase of a stake in Cellnex Telecom SA’s Polish operations, people familiar with the matter said.

Alternative asset manager EQT AB’s infrastructure unit and France’s Antin Infrastructure Partners SA are also vying for a minority stake in the business, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. The Polish asset could be valued at as much as €4 billion ($4.3 billion) in a deal, they said.

Cellnex could bring in a new investor for the Polish business to help it raise fresh capital for growth and isn’t planning to divest any of its current holding in the asset, the people said.

The Spanish tower operator is working with advisers and is likely to engage with a select group of suitors, though it hasn’t kicked off a formal process, according to the people. Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty they’ll result in a deal, they said. Representatives for Cellnex, Antin, EQT, GIP, KKR and Macquarie declined to comment.

Barcelona-based Cellnex has been open to selling stakes in its subsidiaries to help it clinch an investment grade rating from S&P Global Ratings by the end of 2024. In September, the firm agreed to sell a stake in its Nordic business for a €730 million. It’s also working on a sale of its Irish business.

Cellnex took full control of its Polish unit last year by agreeing to acquire the 30% stake held by Iliad SA for about €510 million. The company was set up by both operators in 2021 as part of Cellnex’s acquisition of the network of about 7,000 sites from mobile operator Play Communications in Poland.

The Polish unit operated a total of 8,500 sites in the country and planned to deploy as many as 3,400 new sites by 2030, according to a Cellnex statement in June 2023.

--With assistance from Rodrigo Orihuela, Clara Hernanz Lizarraga and Pamela Barbaglia.