Cellnex to Sell Number of Telecoms Sites to Secure CK Hutchison Deal, UK Watchdog Says

By Joe Hoppe

The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday that Cellnex Telecom SA's has agreed to sell more than 1,000 telecom tower sites to address competition concerns over its acquisition of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.'s U.K. passive telecommunications infrastructure assets.

Spanish wireless-telecommunications company Cellnex said it would sell all of its existing sites that geographically overlap with the CK Hutchinson infrastructure it first agreed to buy in November 2020 for around 10 billion euros ($11.1 billion).

The CMA approved the solution. The regulator said its investigation--launched in May 2021--had previously found the deal would raise significant competition concerns.

The CMA previously said the sale of the business to Cellnex, rather than an alternative buyer, could prevent the emergence of a third major national player beyond Cellnex and Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd., resulting instead in higher prices or lower quality services for mobile network operators, with a knock-on effect for U.K. mobile network users.

"The sale of this significant package of assets will allow a major supplier to compete against Cellnex when mobile networks look to negotiate new contracts in future," said Richard Feasey, Chair of the independent inquiry group.

Write to Joe Hoppe at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-03-22 1234ET