Telefónica enters the final stretch of the process to admit an investor in its rural fiber in Spain

MADRID, 1 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Telefónica has made the first selection of offers from investors for around 45% of its rural fiber optic company in Spain, created at the beginning of the year.

The company has declined to comment on the process, whose resolution is expected to take place in July, sources familiar with the operation have confirmed to Europa Press.

Firms such as Allianz, the French fund Vauban, Caisse de depôt et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and the Dutch pension fund PGGM have passed the second phase of the process, according to 'Expansión'.

Telefónica is looking for this investor to value the company at around 1,000 million euros and contribute to expanding the footprint of the firm's real estate units to five million in 2024.

The operator approaches the transaction in a context marked by the investor appetite for these operations, since the digital infrastructures guarantee a stable return over time for its long-term contracts.

In this case, Telefónica would be the main client of this company, the 'anchor' in the jargon of the sector, with a long-term contract that would guarantee this income and that could be complemented by the arrival of other operators without such a presence in this sphere.

The firm has assured on several occasions that it aspires to be a consolidator of the rural wholesale market for fixed connections in Spain, where there are other players such as Adamo, owned by the Ardian fund and which has been linked to the entry into this 'FiberCo', or Lyntia Access.

Among the final candidates for the operation are Allianz and CDPQ, which already have fiber deployment partnerships with Telefónica in Germany and Brazil, respectively.