According Reuters, three industry sources have confirmed the news saying that Vodafone intends to the float the European tower business at the share offering of approximately $3.6 billion (€3 billion).
They went on to share that Vodafone has instructed a full bank syndicate comprised of UBS, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America to organise the IPO with the help of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Berenberg and Jefferies.
Vantage is due to announce its plan to float in late February with the intention of listing on the Frankfurt stock exchange a few weeks later, should the market remain strong. Proceeds from the sale of shares will be used to pay down its debts.
Vodafone is capitalising on the strong investor appetite for tower assets. The biggest deal this year was the news that American Tower is to acquire Telxius Towers from Telefónica in deal worth €7.7 billion deal ($9.4 billion).
No official comment from Vodafone or the aforementioned banks, but the news comes as at the start of this year Vodafone UK has confirmed plans to transfer its 50% shareholding in Cornerstone to Vantage Towers.
Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited (Cornerstone) is a 50:50 owned joint venture company that owns and manages their passive tower infrastructure in the UK.
Following this, Vantage Towers completed its nomination of the remaining members of its supervisory board - led by chairman Dr. Rüdiger Grube.
