Cellnex has reached an agreement with InfraVia Capital Partners to acquire Cignal, the Irish based independent telecommunications Infrastructure operator for an EV of EUR210 million (US$232.05 million).

The company operates 546 sites in Ireland, which becomes the seventh country in which Cellnex operates in Europe. Cignal operates an attractive telecom sites portfolio with a current customer ratio of c.2x, and featured by its limited overlap with third party sites, enhancing their commercial appeal. It has significantly expanded its portfolio since it was founded following the acquisition of 300 tower locations in 2015.

Contracts with clients have an average duration of c.20 years. Cignal will also roll out up to 600 new additional sites by 2026, with a further investment of approximately EUR60 million (US$66.25 million) as a follow up on to this transaction.

Once the new Build to Suit (BTS) program is fully rolled out, it is estimated that additional EBITDA of around EUR20 million (US$22 million) will be generated for the Group. The acquisition and future investment will be financed through available cash and future cash flows from Cellnex Ireland.

It is estimated that Ireland currently has a total stock of 4,500 telecommunication sites, 60% of which is controlled by mobile operators (Vodafone, 3 and Eir) and 40% are managed by up to eight different telecommunication towers operators including Cignal.