View: Gatecrashers join Europe’s telecom tower M&A bash

LONDON: Cellnex Telecom’s freedom to roam across Europe may be coming to an end. Spurred by the telecommunication tower operator’s rise, Vodafone is preparing to float its mobile mast unit early next year. Other European rivals are also carving out their infrastructure divisions. With half of Europe’s 700,000 mobile towers still potentially up for grabs, the 25 billion euro Spanish M&A machine faces serious competition.

Since listing in 2015, the Barcelona-based firm which specialises in the seemingly humdrum business of installing and maintaining transmitters for mobile phone networks has been on an extraordinary shareholder-funded buying spree. The 10 billion euro purchase of 24,600 towers from Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison , announced last week, confirmed its position as the continent’s leading operator, with a projected 103,000 sites by 2028. Investors, especially the pension funds eager to lock in stable long-term cash flows, appear happy to keep footing the bill. Cellnex shares have trebled in the last two years.