Eir sells its towers for €300m

Eir, the country’s largest telecoms provider, has sold its tower infrastructure company to Phoenix Tower International for €300m.

Under the terms of the deal Eir has sold the entire share capital of Emerald Tower, its mobile telecom infrastructure management company in Ireland.

Eir will retain ownership of the base stations, antennae and all telecom-related equipment, including fiber.

Eir and Phoenix will enter into a long-term agreement for the provision of hosting services over the infrastructure, as well as the construction of new sites through a build-to-suit programme, according to a statement from Eir.

Carolan Lennon, chief executive of Eir, said: “This transaction allows us to accelerate the roll-out of our expanded 4G and 5G networks and increases Eir’s capacity to further invest in our mobile network.”

“It will help us deliver the best mobile experience for all our customers across Ireland, enabling more efficient infrastructure roll-out in the future to further increase geographic coverage."

The transaction is expected to close this summer.

Bank of America acted as financial advisor to Eir.

Paul Hastings and A&L Goodbody acted as legal advisors, while consulting group KPMG also acted as an advisor to Eir.

Following the deal Phoenix Tower will have over 9,000 towers, 986 km of fiber and more than 80,000 other wireless infrastructure and related sites throughout the United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru.