Cellnex finds another €800m to expand tower empire into Portugal

Cellnex has expanded its European footprint once again through the acquisition of Omtel, taking the infrastructure giants into the Portuguese market.

It is perhaps becoming difficult to fully convey the aggressive nature of Cellnex’s expansion over the last 12-18 months. This €800 million transaction is another to add to the increasing list of moves made by the firm to quickly expand the geographical relevance of the business. Altice Portugal and Belmont Infra Holding are the beneficiaries this time.

“With Omtel, we are not only integrating one of the leading independent telecommunications infrastructure operators in Portugal,” said Cellnex CEO Tobias Martínez.

“We are also committing to consistent growth in Europe, incorporating an eighth market – which naturally extends the current geographical coverage of the seven countries in which we already operate, and in this case especially due to the proximity and operational synergies that may arise with the Group in Spain.

“We are also incorporating a new client, Meo, which is the market leader and joins a rich and diversified mix of clients in Europe, covering the leading operators in the markets in which we operate.”

As part of the deal, Cellnex will acquire 3,000 mobile cell sites, roughly 25% of the total across Portugal, while there are plans through the build-to-suit (BTS) programme to deploy additional 350 by 2027. The current expansion plans have been tabled at a cost of €140 million.

While Cellnex is proving to be a very ambitious firm right now, this might be down to opportunism more than anything else. European telcos do not have the same scale as those in North America or Asia and have been financially strained over the course of the last decade. Most are now searching for funds to fuel 5G and fibre deployment plans, and divestment in passive infrastructure is proving to be a popular strategy.

The telcos financial situation has been well-publicised and Cellnex is one of a few different players seemingly hunting bargain deals for infrastructure assets across the continent.

Aside from the Omtel investment, Cellnex has also bought 1,500 sites from Orange Spain, Arqiva’s Telecoms division for £2 billion, Irish tower company Cignal, 70% of the operating company which manages Iliad’s 7,900 sites and 2,800 sites from Swiss telco Salt. Alongside this spree of acquisitions, Cellnex also obtained marketing and operating rights for 220 BT high towers distributed throughout the UK for 20 years and has signed numerous co-operation deals across the continent.

All of these deals were announced post-May 2019. It has been a very busy six months.

Cellnex has certainly noted telcos are in a precarious position and is throwing some serious cash to obtain assets. It might be expensive in the short-term, but it has guaranteed customers for as long as anyone can stare into the future; Cellnex and its 60,000 sites is a heavy-weight, profit making machine.