The Polish competition authority (UOKiK) clears the acquisition of Polkomtel Infrastruktura by Cellnex

Polkomtel Infrastruktura, part of Cyfrowy Polsat’s  group in Poland, operates both passive –telecom towers– and active infrastructure –voice and data transmission equipment and fibre to the tower.

 The transaction involves an investment of c. €1.6 billion.

• Poland’s Competition Authority (UOKiK) has found that Polkomtel’s integration in the Cellnex group in Poland does not raise competition concerns that could affect the normal development of the telecommunications infrastructure market in Poland.
• In February of this year, Cellnex announced that it was to acquire 99.9% of the company, which is part of Cyfrowy Polsat Group. The deal, involving a € 1.6 billion investment, was subject to mandatory authorisation by UOKiK as a regulatory body for competition, among other conditions.
• Polkomtel Insfrastruktura operates Cyfrowy Polsat Group’s passive infrastructure (c.7,000 telecommunication towers and sites) and active infrastructures (c.37,000 radio carriers covering all the bands used by 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G; c. 11,300 km of fibre backbone and fibre-to-the-tower backhaul, and a national network of microwave radiolinks).
• Following the UOKiK’s authorisation, it is estimated that the transaction will be closed in summer.

Barcelona / Warsaw, 9^th of June, 2021 – Cellnex learned  today of the favourable decision by the  Polish Competition  Authority (UOKiK) regarding the project to acquire Polkomtel Infrastruktura, owned by Cyfrowy Polsat.

The  project was announced in February of this year and will involve an investment of 1.6 billion Euro, plus an additional programme to roll out up to c. 1,500 sites, as well as investments in active equipment, mostly for 5G, for a further c. €600 million over the next 10 years. The transaction will be financed with available cash.

“The green light from the UOKiK is a crucial and decisive boost for the final closure of the acquisition of Polkomntel Infrastruktura during summer” said Cellnex Deputy CEO, Àlex Mestre.

“This acquisition is a key milestone for Cellnex”, continued the Deputy CEO. “It will strengthen Cellnex’ position in Poland following the recent acquisition of towers and sites from Play. What is more, this decision will allow us to hold to our commitment to evolve the traditional tower operator model towards an integrated telecommunications infrastructure management model, combining the operation of passive elements (towers) and active elements such as transmission equipment, radio links and fibre-to-the-tower.”

“This deal is further proof of the company’s confidence in the highly innovative, but also very competitive Polish market which, once the operation is concluded, will become one of Cellnex’s principal operations”.

 “We are ideally placed –adds Santiago Argelich, Managing Director of Cellnex Poland- to bring our operational expertise and innovative approach to bear in a context where the Government and regulators are looking to encourage greater connectivity for all citizens and businesses through network development. We will be honored to be part of the country’s post-pandemic digitalization plans.”

About Cellnex Telecom

Cellnex Telecom is Europe’s leading operator of wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures with a portfolio of c. 129,000 sites, about c.75,000 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 GIC, Edizione, ADIA, Canada Pension Plan, CriteriaCaixa, Wellington Management Group, Capital Group, Blackrock, Fidelity & Norges Bank.

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