Telefónica announced yesterday the closing of the sale of 45% of its rural fiber subsidiary, Bluevía, for 1,021 million euros to the French consortium formed by the investment funds Vauban Infrastructure Partners and Crédit Agricole Assurances. It did so after obtaining all relevant regulatory approvals.
The operation, which was announced last July, involves the creation of a joint venture called Bluevía Fibra under the control of Telefónica, since Telefónica España owns 30% and Telefónica Infra (the infrastructure division of the Telefónica Group ) will hold 25% of the capital.
The other 45% remains in the hands of the French consortium. A participation for which, by paying 1,021 million, values Bluevía at 2,500 million euros. This supposes an implicit multiple of 27.1 times over the pro forma operating result of the company estimated for the year 2022, as explained yesterday by the company in a statement.
Bluevía will deploy and market a fiber to the home (FTTH) network in mainly rural areas in Spain and was born with 3.9 million real estate units transferred from Telefónica Spain, which will increase to 5 million units by the end of 2024.“We aspire to expand development outside the big cities. To this end, we will support Telefónica's fiber optic operations, promoting and accelerating new deployments. Bluevía is an open company, with a fiber optic network available to everyone; sustainable, with respect for the environment; and inclusive so that no one is left behind in the digital world”, said Luis Rivera, CEO of Bluevía, yesterday.
