The acquisition is Ancala’s first investment in Ireland, the company said.

Phoenix Tower International has divested 300 Irish telecom towers, selling the portfolio to London-based infrastructure manager Ancala.

The divestment was mandated by the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) when it greenlit PTI’s acquisition of Cellnex’s Irish operations early this year.

The acquisition was first announced in March 2024, when the US-based Phoenix agreed to pay €971m for Barcelona-headquartered Cellnex’s telecoms infrastructure business in Ireland.

The CCPC was concerned that that the merger could result in a loss of competition between the two parties, resulting in higher prices and lower quality of services for the end users.

The divestment – part of the legally binding commitments made by Phoenix – is aimed at maintaining competition in the telecom market.

The CCPC said in February that these commitments will allow competitors to enter or expand in the market, and would replace the competitor, Cellnex, which was lost during the merger.

“It was essential that we found an owner and operator of these tower sites, that we are transferring pursuant to the commitments with the CCPC, with a clear track record managing essential infrastructure,” said Dagan T Kasavana, Phoenix’s CEO.

“Ancala’s record of investment, flexibility, bespoke structuring and experience in delivering complex carve-outs was critical in our decision to select them.”

Ancala said that the new portfolio acquisition is vital to the company’s new tower platform ‘TorLoc Towers’.

Alongside the infrastructure, the company has acquired Phoenix’s existing customer contracts in Ireland and will continue to serve mobile network operators, emergency services, rural broadband providers and private enterprise networks. Ancala said that it plans to grow TorLoc organically and through acquisitions.

“TorLoc Towers represents Ancala’s first investment in Ireland and aligns with our strategy of investing in businesses with traditional infrastructure characteristics with opportunities to create value through active asset management,” said Tim Power, a partner with Ancala.

“Ireland’s telecom tower market, which is underpinned by rising demand for reliable, high-speed mobile network coverage, continues to offer strong growth opportunities for an independent platform such as TorLoc.”

Phoenix is a US-based company which, through its subsidiaries, operates more than 29,000 telecom towers across Europe, North America, South America and the Caribbean.

The company’s European presence is spread across countries including Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Malta and Cyprus. Its backers include BlackRock and Blackstone.

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