Cellnex acquires Arqiva's telecoms division

This operation will be financed by a capital increase of 2.5 billion euros, said in a statement the Spanish company, which has already bought nearly 11,000 pylons in Europe in May. The Madrid Stock Exchange welcomed the announcement, with a title up 2.32% to 10:10 in a market down 0.34%.

With this takeover, Cellnex will have a total of 53'000 masts (rural towers and rooftop antennas in the city) in seven European markets (UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands). the company. The signed agreement includes permission to use street furniture to deploy communications infrastructure in 14 districts of London.

"The UK telecom infrastructure market has always been at the center of our organic growth plans, and this agreement is proof of this and shows the company's confidence in the UK market." We remain attentive to new opportunities. said Cellnex general manager Tobias Martinez.

In June, Cellnex, based in Barcelona, ​​had already bought British BT's 220 high-rise towers in the UK.

A few weeks earlier, the group signed an agreement worth two billion euros to acquire 70% of the capital of the subsidiary managing the pylons of the Iliad group in France and 100% of the subsidiary of the same group, with the same function in Italy, a total of 7900 sites, as well as those built in the future by the operator in both countries.

He also signed a similar agreement with the Swiss operator Salt, also owned by Iliad's founding partner, Xavier Niel, through his personal holding, for the acquisition of 2800 additional pylons on Swiss lands, for an amount of 700 million euros. euros.

In June, the Spanish press also claimed that the Catalan group was aiming to buy 60% of the French capital, TDF, a former subsidiary of France Telecom (now Orange), for three billion euros. The group, listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange and which has the family holding company Benetton (Edizione) among its shareholders, achieved a turnover of 901 million euros in 2018.