Another party consisting of buyout firm Partners Group Holding AG and Aboitiz Group, a conglomerate owned by the billionaire Aboitiz family, is negotiating for the remainder of the portfolio, according to the people.
While talks are at an advanced stage, they could still fall apart, the people said. Other suitors including private equity firm KKR & Co remain interested in the assets, they said. Globe could also decide not to proceed with any deal, the people added.
Globe, which counts Singapore Telecommunications and Filipino conglomerate Ayala Corp among its largest shareholders, is looking to sell about 6,000 of its towers in a deal that could be valued at as much as US$1.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.
Digital infrastructure assets such as telecom towers and data centres have increasingly become targets for deal activity in the region. Globe Telecom’s divestment plan comes after its rival PLDT sold its towers for 77 billion pesos ($1.4 billion) in April to Axiata Group’s edotco Group and EdgePoint Infrastructure, backed by DigitalBridge Group.
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Representatives for Globe Telecom, KKR and Stonepeak declined to comment, while representatives for Aboitiz, Meralco and Partners Group didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
