AYALA-LED Globe Telecom, Inc. announced on Monday that it recently received P1.9 billion for 159 towers bought by MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corp. (MIDC).

“With this latest closing, a total of 860 out of the 2,180 towers have been successfully turned over to MIDC,” Globe said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

“These tower assets are composed of 120 ground-based towers and 39 rooftop towers,” the company added.

According to the company, proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt and capital expenditures to support its ongoing network expansion.

“Cumulatively, Globe has already completed 34% of the sale or a total of 2,410 towers out of 7,059 have been transferred to the tower companies,” the company said. Subsequent closings will take place next year.

Globe Chief Finance Officer Rizza Maniego-Eala said that the transaction has been progressing as scheduled and has already raised nearly P30 billion.

“Monetizing our tower assets is very timely because it has allowed us to keep our balance sheet healthy amid a rising interest rate environment,” she added.

MIDC is a joint venture of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) subsidiary MIESCOR and Stonepeak, an alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets.

“This latest milestone in our collaboration with Globe brings us closer to realizing our shared mission of improved internet connectivity which is essential in our post-pandemic economic recovery,” MIDC President and Chief Executive Officer Helen Grace T. Marquez said in a statement.

“This will eventually help us achieve our vision of becoming a major provider of sustainable digital infrastructure in the Philippines,” she added. — Arjay L. Balinbin

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