TPG Telecom in talks with Vocus for $9b fibre assets spin-off
TPG Telecom has been quietly negotiating a multibillion-dollar sale and leaseback of its non-mobile fibre assets with Macquarie-backed rival Vocus in a bid to lighten its $6.2 billion debt load, Street Talk can reveal.
TPG Telecom CEO Inaki Berroeta. Louie Douvis
It is understood Macquarie Asset Management is working to acquire all of TPG’s fibre assets barring mobile, via Vocus Group which it took private with Aware Super two years ago. The combined entity would have an $8 billion to $9 billion enterprise valuation, sources said.
Should the two camps’ talks play out into a firm deal, TPG would be clearing its balance sheet. It’s a similar play to TPG’s sale of its passive mobile assets (428 towers and 809 sites on rooftops) to Canadian pension giant OMERS last year. That deal booked TPG a $890 million payday, while allowing it to still use the assets under a 20-year contract with OMERS.
At the time of its $15 billion merger with Vodafone five years ago, TPG had operated 27,000 kilometres of metropolitan and inter-capital fibre network. It currently has fibre assets in both its Vision Networks broadband business and outside of it, and has been open about exploring options around its infrastructure assets.
TPG boss Iñaki Berroeta has Bank of America working on a strategic review, while Vocus is being advised by Macquarie Capital.
The listed telco has kept the potential deal quiet, even as its other dealmaking has been in the public eye including ongoing attempts to sell fixed-line broadband business Vision Networks, a$2 billion-plus refinancing of its unhedged debt, and a network sharing deal with Telstra which was blocked by the Australian Competition Tribunal last month.
TPG is due to report its first-half results this
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