Cellnex closes the acquisition of the network of c.7,000 Play sites in Poland

Cellnex now operates in 12 European markets

After receiving the green light from the competition authorities in Poland, Cellnex has formalised the acquisition announced in October –with an associated investment of c. €800 million–, to acquire a 60% controlling stake in the company that will now manage these sites.

This new telecommunications infrastructure operator controlled by Cellnex plans to invest up to €1.3 billion by 2030 to roll out up to            c. 5,000 new sites in Poland.

Barcelona / Warsaw, 1 April 2021. Cellnex Telecom announced today that it had closed the agreement with Iliad, announced on 23 October, which now gives Cellnex a 60% controlling stake in the company operating the c. 7,000 Play telecommunications sites in Poland.

Cellnex has invested c. €800 million in acquiring the aforementioned 60%, while the remaining 40% will continue to be owned by Play (Iliad) along the lines of the model agreed between Cellnex and Iliad for the sites formerly operated by Free (Iliad) in France. Cellnex has financed the operation with available cash.

This new Polish telecommunications infrastructure company controlled by Cellnex plans to invest up to €1.3 billion up to 2030 for the deployment of up to c. 5,000 new sites.

Cellnex has concluded long-term service contracts with Play for a period of 20 years, extendible for a further successive periods of 10 years.

In terms of backlog of contracted sales, this transaction will mean –as announced in October– an increase of €6 billion for the group.

The Cellnex’s overall backlog, including transactions pending closure and roll-out announced in Italy and the UK (CK Hutchison), France (Hivory/SFR), the Netherlands (DT) and the most recent also in Poland (Polkomtel Infrastruktura), is €110 billion.

About Cellnex Telecom

Cellnex Telecom is Europe’s leading operator of wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures with a portfolio of more than 128,000 sites, c. 71,000 of which are already operative, and the rest in the process of finalisation or planned roll-outs up to 2030. Cellnex operates in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.

Cellnex’s business is structured in four major areas: telecommunications infrastructure services; audiovisual broadcasting networks, security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and services management (Smart cities and the “Internet of Things” (IoT)).

The company is listed on the continuous market of the Spanish stock exchange and is part of the selective IBEX 35 and EuroStoxx 600 indices. It is also part of the FTSE4GOOD and CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) and “Standard Ethics” sustainability indexes. Cellnex’s reference shareholders include Edizione, GIC, ADIA, Canada Pension Plan, CriteriaCaixa, Blackrock & Wellington Management Group.

For more information: https://www.cellnextelecom.com