Globe Telecom Inc. said Tuesday it sold a total of 282 towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure (Unity), a partnership between Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) and Partners Group, for P3.4 billion.
The telecom unit of the Ayala Group said it recently completed the sale of 33 more towers to Unity Digital for P396 million. Cumulatively, Globe closed 282 of 447 towers to be acquired by Unity.
Globe said that on May 7, 2023, it signed a sale and leaseback agreement with Unity Digital for the sale of 447 towers amounting to about P5.4 billion.
“The transaction will result in availability of funds for Globe to support future capital expenditures, debt repayments and debt avoidance with the expectation to improve the balance sheet health of the company,” the company said.
It said it expects to recognize an estimated pre-tax net transaction gain of P1.8 billion from the transaction.
Globe last week offloaded 154 towers to MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp. for P1.85 billion. The transaction brought to 1,348 towers already acquired by MIDC amounting to P14.23 billion.
Globe agreed in August 2022 to sell then leaseback all its 5,709 telecommunications tower and relative passive infrastructure in two deals worth P71 billion. Of the total, 2,180 towers will be sold to MIDC for P26 billion while 3,529 towers will be sold to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. for P45 billion.
Globe reported a net income of P24.6 billion in 2023, down 29 percent from P34.60 billion in 2022. Excluding the impact of the one-time gains, normalized net income would have been P19.1 billion, down by 4 percent from 2022.