Cellnex completes massive CK Hutchison tower acquisition

The rumoured €10 billion, 30,000 site, European tower megadeal between Cellnex and CK Hutchison has been completed.

Specifically the €10 billion (8.6 in cash and 1.4 in shares) gets Cellnex 24,600 sites with an option to grab another 5,250 sites over the next eight years for a further €1.4 billion. After completion, acquisitive Cellnex will have over 100,000 towers and telecommunications sites in its portfolio, as you can see below.

“The transformational nature of the agreements strengthens Cellnex’s position as one of the main Europe-wide telecommunications infrastructures operator, with a portfolio of c. 103,000 sites once the transactions and rollouts are complete,” said Cellnex Chairman Franco Bernabè. “We will now be present in three new significant markets –  Sweden, Austria and Denmark – and will further build upon our role as a key operator in three of our core markets, namely Italy, the UK and Ireland.“

“The high density and capillarity of Cellnex’s network of sites, now in 12 European markets and crossing the threshold of 100,000 telecom sites, further highlights the differentiated added value of our company as a natural partner for all mobile operators in Europe to complement their capabilities in rolling out 4G and accelerating the 5G deployment,” said Cellnex CEO Tobias Martinez.

This move has been anticipated for a while and marks just the latest piece of M&A from the rapacious Spanish telecoms infrastructure specialist. As the diagram above shows, Cellnex has spent its way to colossal market share growth over the past few years. We’re not sure where it’s getting all this cash from, but it will presumably have to pause to consolidate sooner or later.