By Manuel Baigorri, Esteban Duarte and David Hellier, Bloomberg
Telefonica SA is considering selling stakes in its infrastructure business after an initial public offering of the unit, Telxius Telecom SA, fell through last month, people familiar with the matter said.
The Spanish phone company is speaking to advisers and is exploring whether to offer competitors or private-equity firms a holding in the entire unit or its components, which include wireless towers and undersea cables, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. No final decisions have been made and the company could decide against the sale, they said.
Cellnex Telecom SA Chief Executive Officer Tobias Martinez said in an interview Thursday he’d consider investing in Telxius if it became available. Towers are an increasingly popular target for investors and companies, like Cellnex, that specialize in buying up infrastructure when phone companies sell down to cut costs. The submarine cable business, which transmits calls and data between countries, proved harder to value for investors in the IPO, the people said.
