Disposing of assets and leasing them back to temporarily regain financial margin. In the #Bold2025 strategy announced at the very beginning of 2023, the Proximus group intended to sell off €400m worth of its assets, but not its towers or any of its international segments. On Friday, it announced that it had reached more than half of its divestment target of €500m, which it had set itself not for the end of 2025 but for 2027.
The group has confirmed the sale of its 267 mobile towers in Luxembourg to Infrared Capital Partners for €108m, via the sale of 100% of the shares in Proximus Luxembourg Infrastructure (PLI). The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.
These structures, also known as masts or pylons, support the antennas needed to transmit signals for mobile phone networks and play an essential role in network coverage, enabling users to make calls, send messages and access the internet via their mobile devices. But Proximus, which operates under the Tango and Proximus NXT brands, will now lease this infrastructure on a long-term basis to guarantee continuity of service for its customers and users, the difference being that it will no longer have to bear the cost of maintenance or upgrades.
"This contract marks a new stage in our #Bold2025 strategy to create value through asset divestments," Proximus CEO Guillaume Boutin, whose term has been extended for a further seven years, commented in a press release. "This partnership with Infrared Capital Partners will enable us to ensure the long-term stability and operational continuity of our mobile infrastructure in Luxembourg, while freeing up resources to support transformative growth projects such as our fibre roll-out strategy. It provides a solid foundation for the continued delivery of high-quality services for our customers in the years to come."
At the end of October, Proximus sold its data centre activities, transferring those business lines to a newly formed entity owned by Datacenter United, which comprises the infrastructure of the data centres in Evere, Mechelen and Machelen, including Proximus real estate properties at the first two sites, contracts with suppliers and part of the hosting contracts with customers. Proximus has also announced its intention to transfer staff and subcontractors dedicated to data centre activities to the new entity.
This summer, the property developer Immobel, having already paid €30m, finally decided not to acquire Proximus' Brussels headquarters for €143m, and Proximus is currently studying alternative scenarios.
Read the original French-language version of this news report /