Cellnex continued to boost its tower presence in Europe, striking a deal to take over Polish infrastructure company Polkomtel Infrastruktura in a deal worth €1.6 billion.

In a statement, Cellnex said it will acquire 99.99 per cent of Polkomtel Infrastruktura from parent company Cyfrowy Polsat, which owns and operates approximately 7,000 towers and sites.

Following the agreement, Cellnex revealed it plans to invest up to €600 million within 10 years in 5G equipment, and rollout up to 1,500 new sites.

The deal also includes a service agreement between the two companies, which is initially set for 25 years, with subsequent renewals for 15-year periods.

Cellnex chief Tobias Martinez said the move will let it reinforce its position in Poland following the takeover of towers and sites from Play, while also illustrates its “commitment to evolving the traditional tower operator model towards an integrated telecommunications infrastructure management model”.

Miroslaw Blaszczyk, CEO of Polkomtel parent Cyfrowy Polsat, believed the agreement with Cellnex will allow for “even faster and more cost-efficient” deployment of connectivity services for the operator’s customers.

The infrastructure company estimated its gains from the deal and projected new sites will amount to €330 million.

This is the fourth major deal by Cellnex in the region within the past two months. Earlier this year it agreed to buy Altice Europe’s tower unit Hivory and to merge with Deutsche Telekom’s tower unit in the Netherlands, and it finalised the takeover of CK Hutchison’s towers in Sweden.