(Alliance News) - Pantheon Infrastructure PLC on Tuesday said it has committed to invest EUR49.2 million in telecommunications infrastructure operator GD Towers.

The investment fund focusing on infrastructure interests said the transaction was via a co-investment vehicle managed by affiliates of DigitalBridge Group Inc, a digital infrastructure investor managing around USD50 billion in assets.

GD Towers has a portfolio of around 33,000 sites in Germany and 7,000 in Austria, providing infrastructure for mobile network operators to offer telecoms services to end-customers.

The Germany and Austria-focused firm was divested out of the Deutsche Telekom AG-owned infrastructure network. Following the transaction, Deutsche Telkom will remain a 49% shareholder in GD Towers and anchor tenant through a long-term master lease agreement. Pantheon didn't say what size stake it will hold in GD Towers.

GD Towers will benefit from tailwinds such as regulatory-driven 5G coverage requirements and growing end-user demand for mobile 5G coverage, Pantheon said.

Pantheon Infrastructure said its investment manager and Pantheon Ventures UK LLP partner Richard Sem believes GD Towers is a "highly attractive" portfolio which should benefit from strong downside protection via robust indexing.

"We are pleased to announce this latest transaction in a highly attractive asset that enables us to participate in the robust opportunity in European telecommunications with a high-quality counterparty," Sem said.

"We believe the tailwinds in this sector provide attractive growth opportunities which are underpinned by long-term contracted cash flows that provide strong downside protection."

Shares in Pantheon Infrastructures were up 0.6% to 94.57 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Deutsche Telekom was up 0.2% at EUR20.40 in Frankfurt.

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

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