American Tower today announced that Allianz Capital Partners and the Allianz European Infrastructure Fund will acquire a 10% ownership interest in ATC Europe, which includes Telxius, for over €530m. Similar to CDPQ’s 30% stake purchase in ATC Europe, in early May 2021, the transaction with Allianz implies an enterprise value for 100% of the ATC Europe entity at over €8.8bn. In turn, this equates to a valuation of 24.5x EBITDA for ATC Europe.
Finally, the transaction is expected to close in Q3 2021. Indeed, this timing aligns with the closing of ATC Europe’s transaction with CDPQ as well.
American Tower – Europe Operations
Pro forma for American Tower’s Telxius acquisition, ATC Europe will own 31k communications sites in Year 1. Geographically, ATC Europe’s portfolio spans Germany (17.2k sites), Spain (11.3k sites), France (2.8k sites), and Poland (27 sites). Notably, these portfolio metrics for ATC Europe include committed build-to-suit (BTS) programs.
American Tower’s partnership with Allianz and CDPQ centers on the long-term growth and scaling of ATC Europe over time. In partnership with Allianz and CDPQ, American Tower will evaluate future M&A opportunities in Europe, akin to Telxius. Indeed, both Allianz and CDPQ would invest additional equity alongside American Tower in any potential future M&A.
Owners
Following today’s announcement, ATC Europe’s shareholder base gains another long-term institutional partner. Specifically, Allianz owns a 10% interest, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) owns a 30% stake, and American Tower owns the remaining 60% of ATC Europe.
Prior to CDPQ and Allianz’s investments, ATC Europe was owned 51% by American Tower and 49% by PGGM, a Dutch pension fund. However, given that PGGM is not investing further capital as part of American Tower’s Telxius acquisition, they will suffer dilution in their effective ownership.
Overall, PGGM will retain ownership in ATC Europe’s operating companies in France, Germany, and Poland. However, PGGM will no longer be an owner of the new ATC Europe holding company.
Governance
American Tower will retain control of the management, operations, and day-to-day oversight of ATC Europe. While Allianz (similar to CDPQ) will obtain board of directors seats for American Tower’s ATC Europe subsidiary, along with certain governance rights.
Transaction Advisors – American Tower and Allianz
American Tower’s financial advisors were Bank of America and CDX Advisors.
Allianz Capital Partners – Overview
Allianz Capital Partners manages €41bn+ of alternative assets, with its investment focus on private equity, infrastructure, and renewable energy. Within digital infrastructure, Allianz Capital Partners was part of the SFR FTTH consortium that acquired French wholesale fiber operator Covage.
Allianz Capital Partners pursues investments that deliver stable cash yields to its investor base, like Covage and ATC Europe.
