News
Report claims Spanish incumbent to float infrastructure unit in July in bid to cut debt.
Telefonica has signed up several banks to manage the initial public offering (IPO) of Telxius, its recently-created infrastructure unit.
According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, CaixaBank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase have been brought on as global coordinators for the flotation. Mediobanca, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Santander, Citigroup, and UBS will act as joint bookrunners.
Sources in the report said the IPO could raise €4 billion-€5 billion, and could take place as soon as July.
Telxius was officially launched in February.
Tasked with managing and monetising the telco’s global infrastructure, the subsidiary is in charge of 15,000 cell towers and 31,000 km of submarine fibre cables. Over time, Telxius is expected to take control of more of Telefonica’s network assets.
Rumours about a possible IPO of Telxius accompanied its launch and have ramped up since the EU blocked the sale of Telefonica’s O2 UK unit to 3UK parent CK Hutchison following a lengthy review process.
Telefonica was banking on the £10.25 billion (€13.23 billion) deal to help it pay down its net debt, which reached €50.21 at the end of the first quarter.
If Monday’s Bloomberg’s report is on the money, Telefonica is keen to make up for lost time.
