Vodafone Divests Stake In $16B Tower Business

Vodafone Group Plc VOD agreed to sell a stake in its towers unit to KKR & Co Inc KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners at a €16.2 billion ($16.3 billion) valuation.
The British telecommunications group announced the €32-a-share deal for Vantage Towers AG VTAGY.
Vodafone will move its 81.7% holding in Vantage into a new joint venture with KKR and GIP.
Also Read: Private Equity Firms Are Flocking To Vodafone's Tower Unit, Valued In The Billions
The JV will then make a takeover offer for outstanding shares in Vantage.
The deal represents a premium of 19% to Vantage Towers’ 3-month volume weighted average share price.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund helped to fund the deal, Bloomberg reports. KKR and GIP competed with various other financial and strategic bidders for Vantage, including a consortium of Spanish telecommunications group Cellnex Telecom SA CLLNY and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte.
The report added that the telecom operators shift the assets to help raise funds for fiber-optic rollouts and wireless upgrades.
Price Action: VOD shares traded lower by 2.34% at $12.08 in the premarket on the last check Wednesday.
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