Vodafone and Telefonica announced a 50:50 joint venture — Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure that owns and manages their passive tower infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
Vodafone and Telefonica have entered into long-term Master Services Agreements with Cornerstone, which have initial terms of 8 years from 1 January 2021, with three 8-year renewal periods, and which establish Cornerstone as a preferred supplier of new sites for both operators.
Vodafone intends to transfer its 50 percent shareholding in Cornerstone to Vantage Towers in January 2021.
#1 tower infrastructure company in the UK operating c.14,200 macro sites and c.1,400 micro sites
Extends Vantage Towers’ portfolio to c.82,000 macro sites and its geographic presence in Europe to 10 markets, with leading positions in 9 of them.
Adjusted FY20 pro forma adjusted EBITDA after Leases of £111 million, thereby adding €62 million to Vantage Towers’ pro forma aggregated Adjusted EBITDAaL based on its 50 percent shareholding in Cornerstone.
Commitments for c.1,200 new macro sites by FY25 and c.1,950 new passive tenancies on existing sites by FY24, with an expected run-rate Adjusted EBITDAaL contribution of approximately £17.5 million by FY26 (100 percent basis)
There will be attractive medium-term revenue and recurring free cash flow (“RFCF”) growth outlook, supported by new build macro sites, committed new passive tenancies and rural white spot coverage obligations.
Cornerstone to maintain leverage of 3.0-4.0x Net Financial Debt / Adjusted EBITDAaL, by distributing 100 percent of excess cash with additional distributions from time to time to maintain leverage.
“We look forward to working with our anchor tenants to power the UK’s digital transformation, enabling the roll-out of 5G networks to benefit business and consumers and ensuring greater mobile coverage for all,” Vivek Badrinath, chief executive officer of Vantage Towers, said.
