European towerco Cellnex is reported to have identified Switzerland as the next potential market for exit.
A report in Spanish newspaper Expansion indicated that the towerco has hired JPMorgan to explore a sale of its 72.2% holding in it’s Swiss subsidiary, valued at between EUR 1.1 - 1.5bn depending on differing reports.
Cellnex entered the Swiss market in 2017 after reaching a deal with Sunrise to acquire 2,339 sites in a consortium alongside Swiss Life and Deutsche Telekom capital Partners.
In 2019, Cellnex expanded this with another acquisition of 2,8000 sites from Salt, leaving the towerco with 5,518 sites (as of Q3 2024). Cellnex is the only towerco active in the market, with Swisscom owning around 6,000 sites.
This follows a series of strategic exits made by Cellnex over the past few years in an ongoing effort to strengthen its balance sheet. In 2023, Cellnex sold a 49% stake of its Nordics business to investment firm Stonepeak.
Last year, the towerco sold its private networks business to Boldyn Networks, and offloaded 2363 sites in France to Phoenix Tower International (PTI). Another agreement to sell its Ireland business to PTI is ongoing.
During the group’s results presentation CEO Marco Patuano suggested the possibility of further M&A for both country opcos and across business lines.
