Telefónica sells 45% of its rural fiber to Vauban and Predica for more than one billion euros

MADRID, 25 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Telefónica has sold 45% of its fiber optic company in rural areas of Spain to a consortium formed by Vauban Infrastructure Partners, an investment fund of Natixis and Predica, part of the insurance business of Crédit Agricole, for 1,021 million euros.

Telefónica will form the company Bluevia with the consortium of French firms, which will receive 3.5 million real estate units passed through fiber optics from the group and will be valued at 2,500 million euros, according to the notification sent this Monday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Bluevia will roll out 1.5 million more fiber optic real estate units to the home over the next two years in areas where Telefónica still has clients with connections via copper cable, according to a statement. The firm wants to shut down its copper retail network in 2024.

In this statement, Telefónica has highlighted that Bluevia's network is located in rural areas with little overlap with third-party operators and that it will provide wholesale services to other operators.

The new company was born with an operating profit before annual amortization (annual Oibda) of 92 million euros, since the transaction was closed at a multiple of 27.1 times the Oibda, higher than expected.

Initially, Telefónica was expected to contribute 2.5 million real estate units and another 2.5 million to be built. The 3.5 million real estate units contributed finally account for 13% of the operator's total network in the country.

The listed company will articulate its participation in Bluevia through Telefónica Spain, which will have 30% of the capital, and Telefónica Infra, which will own 25%. At the head, the former director of Corporate Strategy of the operator, Luis Rivero, will be placed.

The operation is subject to the pertinent authorizations and will end with Telefónica signing contracts for the provision of services with the entity, as is customary in the sector.

The president of Telefónica Spain, Emilio Gayo, has highlighted that it is "a key lever to accelerate deployment in rural areas", while the copper network is being switched off.

For his part, the general director of Crédit Agricole Assurances, Philippe Dumont, stressed that the investment is part of the group's diversification strategy, as well as its commitment to financing "large-scale projects in favor of the revitalization of the territories together to large industrial players in the infrastructure sector".

"We are excited to partner with Telefónica for the creation of a unique FTTH platform, Bluevia, with the aim of connecting more than 5 million real estate units in rural areas of Spain by 2024. This operation is supported by our solid experience in fiber, including Credit Agricole Assurances through our Vauban Infra Fiber platform, and in our significant presence in the Spanish market," said Vauban partner Gwenola Chambon.

BOILING IN THE 'TELECOS' MARKET

Telecommunications companies have become the great agitators of the mergers and acquisitions market in Spain in the last week.

Last Saturday, MásMóvil and Orange announced an agreement for their merger, which must be previously approved by the competition authorities.

Previously, the operator led by Meinrad Spenger had sold 51% of a company with 1.2 million households in the Euskaltel access network to a group of Basque shareholders in an operation for 580 million euros.