Globe to raise P20B from sale and leaseback deal with Phil-Tower Consortium

Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. on Tuesday said it expects to raise some P20 billion from the sale and leaseback agreement with Phil-Tower Consortium Inc. covering 1,350 towers.
 
The agreement covers Globe’s third portfolio of towers located primarily in Mindanao, which it will lease back for an initial period of 15 years. The assets are 90% ground-based towers and 10% rooftop towers.
 
The pre-tax transaction gain is estimated at P5.2 billion, with the first close targeted within the year.
 
“Upon Globe’s completion of the overall transaction, it will represent the Philippines’ largest ever tower sale and leaseback deal,” Globe said in a regulatory filing.
 
“This milestone tower deal will significantly improve the overall health of Globe’s balance sheet, thus providing sufficient flexibility to properly compete in this dynamic market as well as further expand its digital ecosystem,” it added.
 
The latest sale and leaseback agreement brings Globe’s total towers sold to 7,059, with total proceeds of P91 billion.
 
The company has previously said that 75% of the proceeds will be used to finance capital expenditures, support ongoing network expansion, and maintain industry-leading network consistency and reliability scores.
 
The remaining 25% will be used for its debt servicing requirements for 2023.
 
This is in line with the common tower policy of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which governs the sharing of towers by telecommunications firms.
 
The policy seeks to free telecommunications firms from costly capital expenditures on building communication towers.
 
“We believe that our partnership with PhilTower, which has a proven track record and expertise in telecom tower infrastructure, shows Globe’s commitment to ensuring the improvement of the Philippines’ internet conditions and the success of the country’s digital transformation,” Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu said.
 
“Also, these monetization efforts will provide an uplift to Globe’s overall value, supporting our goal of enabling the digital lives of Filipinos,” he added.
 
PhilTower is an independent tower firm in the Philippines that counts as investors Macquarie Capital and the Pan-Asian Digital Shared Infrastructure Group, and Global Network Inc., which has operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar.  — VBL, GMA News