Brazil’s Oi raises €820m from asset sales

Brazilian telco Oi has offloaded non-core assets to bring in a total of around Real2.4bn (€820m).

The company said Monday that it has agreed to sell its majority stake in undersea cable operator Brasil Telecom Cabos Submarinos and its connected subsidiaries in Venezuela, Colombia, Bermuda and the US, which operate under the GlobeNet brand to Brazilian investment fund Banco BTG Pactual for Real1.74bn.

In another deal, the company also said it has agreed to sell rights to 2,113 mobile towers to SBA Torres Brasil, a unit of SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC), for Real686.73m and lease back antenna space on the units.

SBA will assume all responsibility of operating and maintaining the towers and will have the right to lease space on the towers to other telecommunications service providers. The towers currently have 1.15 tenants per tower and include leases with all of the major mobile operators in Brazil. Once the deal is completed, SBA will own or have rights to use more than 3,000 towers in Brazil.