(Bloomberg) -- Cellnex Telecom SA has halted plans to sell a stake in its Polish business, which could have valued the unit at as much as €4 billion ($4.4 billion), people familiar with the matter said.
The potential stake sale is on ice after an attempt to broker an agreement between two telecom clients to build out a network in Poland stalled, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. No final decisions have been made and the negotiations may still restart.
Cellnex, which has telecom masts across Europe, had made any divestment contingent on Play Communications agreeing to build a shared active network with rival Polkomtel using Cellnex’s infrastructure, they said. The stake sale would’ve given Cellnex the funds to build up the network further. After more than a year of negotiations, talks with the two carriers hadn’t progressed, the people said.
Representatives for Cellnex and Play declined to comment. Polkomtel didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A stake sale would have played a role in Chief Executive Officer Marco Patuano’s attempts to reign in costs at the acquisitive telecom equipment company and focus on shareholder return. Private equity firms including Global Infrastructure Partners, KKR & Co and Macquarie Group Ltd. were among suitors that had considered a bid.
The Polish unit is unique in Cellnex’s portfolio, owning “active infrastructure” that transmits and routes signals rather than its “passive” towers and masts. It represents a potential new growth area for Cellnex — which became Europe’s biggest tower operator by buying up infrastructure from traditional telecommunications operators — as phone carriers divest more of their networks to reduce costs.
--With assistance from Agnieszka Barteczko and Dinesh Nair.
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