Globe closes 60 percent of tower sale

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile giant Globe Telecom Inc. will end the year completing the sale of about 60 percent of its towers, putting it in a position to transfer the remaining units in 2024.

Globe yesterday handed over another batch of towers, this time to Aboitiz-backed Unity Digital Infrastructure, made up of 79 units worth P948 million.

This marks the final time that Globe will turn over towers this year, as the telco expects to finish the transaction only by 2024.

All in all, Globe has raised P57.4 billion or 60 percent,from the P96.4 billion that it anticipates  to gain from the tower sale it signed with independent operators. Broken down, Globe transferred 4,467 towers – 2,410 in 2022 and 2,057 in 2023 – of the 7,506 that it is set to let go.

Last year Globe signed a sale and leaseback agreement for 5,709 towers, totaling P71 billion, with Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. and Manila Electric Co.’s subsidiary MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp.

Afterward, Globe sold another batch of towers – 1,350 to PhilTower Consortium Inc. and 447 to Unity – for P25.4 billion.

With the latest closing of towers, the telco has transferred more than half or 249 of the units that it sold to Unity.

For 2024, Globe chief finance officer Rosemarie Maniego-Eala said the company should be able to turn over all of the assets covered by its tower sale next year.

“We have made significant progress with our tower deal today, transferring more than half of the towers and reaching 60 percent of our overall tower deal. This recent transaction with Unity also marks our last closing for 2023 and we look forward to completing our landmark tower sale next year,” Eala said.

Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu also stood by the telco’s decision to let go of passive assets, as the telco tries to improve its cost efficiency in the pandemic aftermath. He said the partnership that Globe is building with tower operators will also play a critical role in bringing connectivity to anywhere in the Philippines.

Apart from the tower sale, Globe is beefing up its war chest by acquiring loans with some of the country’s biggest banks.

Between September and December, Globe went on a borrowing spree, securing P47 billion from five local banks, to finance its capital expenditures and settle maturing debts.