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KKR launches up to $400m PH Pinnacle Towers placement: report

KKR launches up to $400m PH Pinnacle Towers placement: report

Photo by Tony Stoddard on Unsplash

Private equity major KKR has initiated a private placement for Pinnacle Towers, the largest independent telecom tower operator in the Philippines, to raise between $300 million and $400 million, according to a MergerMarket report.

The report further said that the deal involves a partial sell-down by KKR combined with a new equity injection and that the deal size will depend on the stake offered.

Pinnacle Towers will reportedly use part of the proceeds toward bolt-on acquisitions of telecom towers in the Philippines.

KKR first acquired a stake in Pinnacle Towers in November 2020 for an undisclosed amount. It made the investment through its infrastructure fund.

In 2022, KKR acquired 3,529 telecom towers from Globe Telecom, one of the major telco companies in the Philippines, through Pinnacle’s subsidiary Frontier Tower.

It also announced a deal in March 2023 that would see PLDT, another telco company, selling 1,000 telecommunications towers for more than $200 million.

The PE major then invested an additional $400 million in Pinnacle Towers to further develop and acquire telecom towers in the country.

The Philippine government has been pushing for mobile network operators to share infrastructure since 2017, saying every tower in the country serves more than 7,000 subscribers, as opposed to the ideal value of having 1,000 subscribers per tower, and the usual 2,000 subscribers per tower in countries with faster internet.

Last month, Pinnacle Towers was reported to be selling between 10% to 25% stake to expand its operations in the country. The minority stake being sold is a mix of primary and secondary shares.

Pinnacle aims to build an independent telecom tower platform in the Philippines to help telecom firms meet the demand for reliable, data-rich, high-speed, and affordable connectivity.

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