Royal KPN agreed to sell its more than 2,000 tower...
Royal KPN agreed to sell its more than 2,000 tower sites in Germany to Boston-based American Tower for €393 million ($501 million). KPN’s sites in Germany are used by KPN-owned No. 3 German carrier E-Plus and other smaller carriers, the…
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companies said. KPN said Thursday it will lease back space for E-Plus as needed. KPN, the Netherlands’ largest telco, said it’s selling off the towers as part of its larger strategy to pay down debt and invest further in its rollout of an accelerated mobile network in Germany. “We do not consider the ownership and development of mobile towers to be a core part of our operations,” KPN Chief Financial Officer Eric Hageman said in a statement, saying it previously sold off a large part of its tower network in the Netherlands (http://xrl.us/bnzt8n). The transaction is expected to close in Q4, pending approval by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, American Tower said. “With over [100 million] subscribers and its significant growth in wireless data demand, Germany represents the largest wireless market in Europe and an attractive complement to our overall international portfolio mix and expansion strategy,” American Tower CEO Jim Taiclet said in a news release (http://xrl.us/bnzt9q). Each site will cost American Tower more than $250,000 -- “more expensive than prior emerging market acquisitions but cheaper than most recent US comps,” New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors.