Infrastructure company Cellnex agreed to acquire Portuguese tower operator Omtel for €800 million, deepening its footprint across Europe.

In a statement, Cellnex said its entry into Portugal means it has a presence across eight European markets as it assumes control of Omtel’s 3,000 sites in the country.

It agreed to acquire the company from Altice Europe and Belmont Infra Holding’s.

Going forward, Cellnex plans to roll out 400 sites in the next four years, and keeping in mind the market’s evolution, including 5G rollout, it could build another 350 sites by 2027.

It estimated making an investment of around €140 million to fulfil its plan.

Omtel’s current sites represent 25 per cent of the total telecoms towers in the Portuguese market, and the company counts Portugal Telecom as one of its major customers.

Cellnex continues march
Cellnex CEO Tobias Martinez said the push into Portugal “naturally extends” its current geographical coverage, and it could see operational synergies with its operations in Spain.

Marking the start of 2020 with another deal, Cellnex has picked up where it left off in 2019, a year when it made several acquisitions and strategic moves in the tower space.

The company struck deals with Iliad in France and Italy, Salt in Switzerland, BT in the UK, Orange in Spain among others.

Since its IPO in 2015, Cellnex said it has committed to investments to the tune of around €12 billion up to 2027, for the acquisition or construction of up to 48,000 telecoms infrastructures.