Cellnex doubles down on Portugal with €375 million NOS acquisition

Ambitious Spanish tower specialist Cellnex is going to drop at least €375 million to the towering operations of operator NOS.

That will buy it around 2,000 sites, including standalone towers and rooftop antennas. There’s also some kind of optional spend of up to €175 million to buy up to 400 new sites and general ‘perimeter increase’ activities over the next six years. NOS is signing a 15-year agreement to use the sites in the time-honoured buy-and-lease-back fashion.

“The agreement reached with NOS reinforces the nature and the neutral and independent operator profile that characterises the Cellnex model,” said Cellnex CEO Tobias Martinez. “Following the very recent agreement to acquire OMTEL, also in Portugal, this transaction exemplifies the sense of being an operator which, precisely due to its neutral and independent nature, can consolidate long-term collaboration projects with the various MNOs and telecom operators who access our infrastructures to roll out their telecommunications networks.”

Cellnex is on a bit of a tear at the moment, with an aggressive acquisition strategy apparently vindicated by some pretty decent recent earnings. For companies with cash to spare, the coronavirus pandemic may well be presenting some exceptional bargains as the resulting economic freeze will be making a lot of companies prioritise short-term cash flow.