Globe Telecom Inc. said Tuesday it turned over 4,467 towers to four companies worth P57.4 billion as of December this year.
The telecom unit of the Ayala Group said it recently sold 79 towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure (Unity) for P948 million. The transaction was the last for the year and marked the third tranche of the 447 sale-and-leaseback deal with Unity with the transfer of ownership and management rights of 249 towers or around 56 percent of the sold towers, it said.
Globe said it already turned over the ownership of 4,467 towers of the 7,506 towers sold, raising P57.4 billion, or about 60 percent of the tower deal.
It said that apart from the Unity deal, it sold tower portfolios to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc., Phil-Tower Consortium Inc. and MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp.
Globe said it transferred 1,301 towers in the first half of 2023 and 756 towers in the second half that raised over P27 billion in proceeds.
“We have made significant progress with our tower deal today, transferring more than half of the towers and reaching 60 percent of our overall tower deal,” said Globe chief finance officer Rizza Maniego-Eala.
“This recent transaction with Unity marks our last closing for the year 2023, and we look forward to completing our landmark tower sale next year. We believe that the undisrupted services to our customers with the successful handover of the tower assets to the towercos [tower companies] are proof of Globe’s strong commitment to service excellence,” she said.
Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said working together and finding all the means to supplement the company’s tower builds through continued partnership with the towercos would add resiliency and stability to Globe’s expanding network.
“We believe that our continued collaboration with the towercos is crucial in helping us fund our various innovations to expand our digital portfolio, enhance customer experience, and bring connectivity across all islands in the country,” he said.
