Globe Telecom Inc. on Tuesday said it sold 282 of its cellular network towers to Unity Digital Infrastructure (Unity), a partnership between Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) and Partners Group for P3.4 billion.
The Ayala-led telco said it completed the sale of another 33 towers to Unity Digital for P396 million. Cumulatively, Globe has closed the deal on 282 of 447 towers to be acquired by Unity.
In May last year, Globe signed a sale and leaseback agreement with Unity Digital for the sale of 447 towers for approximately 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,” Globe said.
Globe projects recognizing estimated pre-tax net transaction gain of P1.8 billion from the transaction.
Last week, Globe offloaded 154 towers to MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp. for P1.85 billion. The transaction brought to 1,348 towers already acquired by MIDC for P14.23 billion.
In August 2022, Globe agreed to sell then leaseback all its 5,709 telecommunications tower and relative passive infrastructure in two deals worth a total P71 billion.
Of the total, 2,180 towers will be sold to MIDC for P26 billion while the remaining 3,529 towers will be sold to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. for P45 billion.
Globe reported a net income of P24.6 billion last year, 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.
Globe’s consolidated service revenue grew 3 percent to P162.3 billion from P158 billion last year, attributed to the outstanding performance of its mobile and corporate data business.
