Telefonica began negotiations to sell towers in Germany for €1.5 billion, reported Expansion, as part of the operator group’s plans to raise funds from tower assets to improve financial stability.

The newspaper reported the operator is readying 10,000 towers for sale to subsidiary infrastructure company Telxius, which Telefonica holds a 50.01 per cent stake in.

Other Telxius stakeholders include investment companies KKR Group, which acquired a 40 per cent stake for €1.27 billion in 2017; and Pontegadea, which acquired 9.99 per cent for €378.8 million in 2018.

Telxius currently operates 20,000 sites across Europe and Latin America, with 70 per cent located in Spain and Germany.

Telefonica revealed its intention to sell tower assets in September 2019, to transform its Spanish workforce and improve its financial position. At the time, it owned 50,000 tower sites, excluding Telxius’ portfolio, claiming it had the potential to generate €830 million in revenue.

The operator reportedly hired investment bank Goldman Sachs through its O2 UK unit to find buyers.

It later detailed sweeping changes to its operations to focus on core markets, spinning off Central and South American units.