Telefónica finalizes the sale of 45% of Bluevía for 1021 million | Economie

Telefónica has finalized the agreement with the funds Vauban Infrastructure Partners and Crédit Agricole Assurances (CAA) for the sale of 45% of Bluevía Fibra, A new company plans to operate and exploit the rural fiber optic network with itFor 1,021 million euros. The closure of the operation, announced last July, occurred after the operator had obtained all necessary regulatory clearances, including Cabinet approval, the operator told CNMV on Tuesday.

Bluevia has acquired 3.9 million real estate units (houses and commercial buildings) from Telefónica Spain, already in the past400,000 more than planned when the agreement was signed, and carry the commitment From reaching a total area of ​​5 million real estate units passed In 2024. The real estate units acquired by Bluevía represent 14.4% of Telefónica’s fiber optic network in Spain, which will maintain the rest of the network.

Likewise, as part of the deal, a series of contracts for the provision of services will be signed by Telefónica Group to Bluevía. The agreement means a 100% valuation of Bluevia at €2,500 million, which means a 27.1 times multiple of the company’s estimated 2022 gross operating profit (Oibda).

Regarding the capital structure, Telefónica will hold 55%, and Vauban and CAA will hold the remaining 45%. The participation of Telefónica Group will be organized by the two subsidiaries Telefónica España and Telefónica Infra, with 30% and 25% participation respectively.

“We aspire to expand development beyond the big cities. To this end, we will support Telefónica’s fiber optic operations, consolidating and accelerating new deployments. Bluevía is an open company, with a fiber optic network accessible to all; sustainable, while respecting the environment;” said Luis Rivera, President Bluevia CEO.

Public funds

Bluevía Fibra will be able to take advantage of public funds earmarked for the deployment of telecommunications networks in unprofitable areas, such as rural areas, through the program called Único. Through this process, Telefónica also continues to make its infrastructure profitable, by separating assets and selling them to third parties. The formula for granting entry to a financial partner has already been tested in countries such as Germany, with Allianz; Brazil, with Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), and in Colombia and Chile with KKR. Telefónica and its partner Liberty Global are also negotiating the entry of a financial partner into its fiber bandwagon in the UK.

However, it was the largest operation Sale of American Tower at the beginning of 2021, together with its partners KKR and Pontegadea, to the mobile telephony tower division in Europe (Spain and Germany) and in Latin America (Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina) 7700 million euros.

Financially, the operations help Telefónica reduce its debt which currently amounts to nearly 29,000 million, although the disadvantage of separating and selling the network’s assets to third parties is that they have to pay their rent, which increases costs in the future. All major European operators – among them Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Orange – are carrying out this process.