Másmóvil offloading half of Euskaltel’s access network

Today, Spanish reports suggest that Másmóvil has sold a 51% stake in Euskaltel’s newly separated fibre access network unit, EKT Cable, to a Spanish consortium.  
The consortium, known as Bidasoa Aggregator, includes various Spanish investment funds…

Today, Spanish reports suggest that Másmóvil has sold a 51% stake in Euskaltel’s newly separated fibre access network unit, EKT Cable, to a Spanish consortium.  

The consortium, known as Bidasoa Aggregator, includes various Spanish investment funds, including Asúa Inversiones, Beraunberri, Inveready, and Onchena. 

The deal is reportedly worth around €580 million, of which €500 million will be used to reduce the Másmóvil’s debt load.

According to sources, the move should allow Euskaltel to accelerate its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) rollout in Basque Country, Galicia and Asturias, where the company has targets of migrating 2.1 million people to fibre services and away from older copper infrastructure.

The deal does not include Euskaltel’s trunk fibre network or transmission assets, which will continue to be owned and operated by Másmóvil/Euskaltel.

Másmóvil acquired Basque operator Euskaltel for roughly €2 billion last year, having itself only been acquired back in June 2020 by a trio of private equity funds – KKR, Cinven, and Providence – for $3.3 billion.

Since then, Másmóvil has agreed to merge with Orange Spain, aiming to create a 50:50 joint venture with an enterprise value of roughly €20 billion. Earlier this month, reports suggest that the duo announced they were closing in on the €6.5 billion in funding they would need to complete the merger, with the money being provided by around a dozen major banks.

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