Telefónica has signed an agreement to sell 11 data centres to Asterion Industrial Partners, a pan-European infrastructure fund manager, for €550 million.
Telefónica Group reduced debt by around €12 billion since June 2016: at the end of 2018 its debts stood at €41,785 million.
The sale includes a housing services agreement, meaning that Telefónica will continue to provide and manage the services it has been offering its customers from these centres and will maintain the direct relationship with them.
In turn, the agreement will allow Asterion to leverage Telefónica’s sales network and market the remaining data centre capacity.
The transaction doesn’t include the sale of servers owned by Telefónica, or the management and access to customers hosted on them.
Value creation
A statement from Telefónica said: “The agreement is part of the Telefónica Group’s asset portfolio management policy based on a strategy of value creation, improving return on capital and strategic positioning.
“It also complements the objective of organic debt reduction and strengthening the balance sheet in a growing cash flow scenario, which allows the company to maintain a sustainable and attractive shareholder remuneration.”
The transaction is forecast to close in two months, except for four data centres where the transfer is subject to several authorisations and administrative procedures.
The deal is expected to generate capital gains before taxes and controlling interests of around €260 million.