Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. was able to raise P3.7 billion from the successful sale of 307 cellular towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Oct. 29, Globe said it officially divested 25 more towers to Unity for a total of P300 million, marking their fourth transaction so far, with the first three successfully closed between July 2023 and March 2024.
The sale formed part of the sale and leaseback agreement between Globe and Unity, a joint venture company between Aboitiz InfraCapital and Partners Group tasked to operate and manage telecom towers in the country.
Upon completion of the agreement, Globe was expected to rake in a total of P5.4 billion.
“This transaction will allow Globe to efficiently raise capital, redeploy capital from passive infrastructure to active equipment, improve balance sheet health, and leverage expertise of tower companies,” the telco giant said.
In July 2022, Globe also entered a sale and leaseback agreement with Miescor Infrastructure Development Corp., a subsidiary of the Manila Electric Company, as well as Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc., for the disposition of 5,709 Globe towers for a total amount of P71 billion.
Of the total, 2,180 towers were divested to Miescor for P26 billion, while 3,529 towers were sold to Frontier for P45 billion.
As of July this year, 88 percent of the towers in Globe’s portfolio have already been transferred to the tower companies, generating around P85.2 billion in gross proceeds.
“This significant financial inflow is expected to support Globe's strategic initiatives and further strengthen its financial position,” the company said.
Globe expected to finalize its landmark tower sale and leaseback deal by the end of the year.
In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. emphasized the importance of common towers for national connectivity, a strategy that Globe fully supported.
“We believe in the concept that shared tower cost and shared tower build reduces the capex (capital expenditure) requirements for the telcos. We hope that with the reduced capex requirement, we will be able to collectively put up more towers between the towercos and us,” said Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest Cu.