Vodafone says tower business could be worth 14.7bn euros at float

LONDON: British mobile phone giant Vodafone said Tuesday it had set the price range for the upcoming German stock market flotation of its towers business, valuing the unit at up to 14.7 billion euros ($17.4 billion).

The share sale comes amid increasing demand for mobile telecommunications connectivity across Europe driven by data growth, 5G roll-out and regulatory coverage obligations.

Vantage Tower's first day of trading on the Frankfurt stock market is expected to be on or around March 18, with a price-per-share range of between 22.5 euros and 29 euros, Vodafone said in a statement.

The initial public offering (IPO) "implies a total market capitalisation for Vantage Towers of 11.4 billion euros to 14.7 billion euros", it added.

Digital Colony, a digital infrastructure investor and operator based in the US, has agreed to be a cornerstone investor in the IPO, alongside RRJ, a global equity fund based in Singapore, with commitments of 500 million euros and 450 million euros, respectively.

"The Vantage Towers IPO is moving ahead at pace," Vantage Towers chief executive Vivek Badrinath said in the statement.

"Today's price range announcement is accompanied by the news that two leading global investors have committed to cornerstone our IPO with the purchase of 950 million euros of shares at the offer price."

Vantage Towers' portfolio includes towers, masts and rooftop sites.