PLDT Group Completes Historic Selling And Leaseback Of Towers

Last April 19, 2022, PLDT Inc., the country's largest integrated telco, announced that its subsidiaries, Smart Communications, Inc., and Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., have signed Sale and Purchase Agreements in connection with the sale of 5,907 telecom towers and related passive telecom infrastructure for PHP 77 billion to a subsidiary of EdgePoint and a subsidiary of edotco.

Photo Insert: This is the largest-ever acquisition of assets in the Philippines by international investors.

PLDT subsequently announced that Smart and Digitel have completed the sale of 3,012 telecom towers (representing more than half of the towers being monetized) and received the corresponding cash consideration of approximately PHP 39.2 billion, less than one and a half months after signing the Sale and Purchase Agreements.

The Master Services Agreements covering the leaseback arrangements for those towers went into force on the same day.

This investment by overseas tower operators marks a significant endorsement of the country's recovery from the epidemic and its long-term growth potential, as it is the largest ever acquisition of assets in the space by international investors.

This groundbreaking project also helps the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology achieve its aim of increasing tower density, which would result in significant cost savings and increased connectivity throughout the country.

PLDT expects additional closings in the coming months, with the ultimate completion likely in Q4 2022.

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