By Chathushka Perera
New York, USA (CWBN)_ Following substantial discussions, CK Hutchison Holdings, a multinational conglomerate based in Hong Kong, China, is expected to sell its telecommunication assets in Europe (about 29,100 sites) at whooping USD 11.7 billion (10 billion Euros), to the Spanish telecom services and infrastructure company, Cellnex Telecom.
Hutchison has announced that “no decision has been taken to proceed with any transaction and there is no certainty of any transaction” and has failed to provide a direct response with regard to the scope and terms of the transaction, given the pending minority shareholder decisions
Should the transaction go ahead as expected? It would be with strings attached, requiring Cellnex to provide infrastructural services to Hutchison in addition to accelerating the timeframe on the 5G network suit programme. Irrespective of that, Cellnex has gained USD 4.75 billion in new shares as a result of the deal.
The decision to sell was taken by Hutchison after the company reported a 29% drop in profits during the first 6 months of 2020, while the second half is expected to be a bumpy road ahead.
Meanwhile, in a similar move, American Tower (Massachucets, USA) intends to carve into Canada with the purchase of InSite Wireless Group (Virginia, USA), which owns 3000 telecom towers across North America, including 200 towers in Canada.
