Sale of TDF: Many candidates, but not Orange
The incumbent has other priorities and hasn’t positioned itself to buy TowerCo, according to multiple sources.
The latest takeover bids for the infrastructure operator only fell yesterday and Orange is not one of them. Canadian group Brookfield, TDF’s largest shareholder with a 45% stake, is indeed seeking a sale, and the candidates are jostling over a dossier that is more complex than it first appears.
According to several sources, investment funds and operators are quite interested, such as the Swedish EQT, Blackstone with its company Phoenix Tower or American Tower. One of the candidates, Digital Bridge, even recently completed a transaction with Brookfield to buy 51% of Deutsche Telekom’s German cell towers and is now eyeing TDF.
Orange is not in the running
The company’s former parent company is also being considered for this operation, but it did not want to participate. ” It’s not in their priorities. Orange does not hold a minority interest. The process is complex. Everyone is waiting to see what price zone we are in ‘” explains a source familiar with the matter. “It would be difficult for Orange to explain to its fellow minority shareholders that it will cut TDF to achieve synergies with its Totem subsidiary‘ says another.
In fact, the incumbent has long held a different position from its competitors, who have sold some towers: Orange is not a seller, but a buyer. He also formed Totem, his own TowerCo, late last year to manage his 26,000 French and Spanish towers. However, if this position was confirmed by the incumbent operator, no major operation was launched in that direction.
However, nothing is decided. By the end of the week, fellow shareholders of TDF, APG and PSP will benefit from the right of first refusal and will be able to make an offer to buy back Brookfield’s 45% stake on the basis of the best price achieved, which the candidates on Wednesday, if that amount is not too high, is said to be the Seize shares in Canadian, says a source familiar with the matter, but “if it is too high, the tendering process will continue with the applicants in September“. Given this situation, other TDF shareholders could then take advantage of a high price to sell their stake, with the possibility that full control of TDF, rather than 45%, is at stake.
Source: Les Echos
This article is from the Univers FreeBox website
