Telefonica confirmed an expected sale of 11 data centres, as part of its plan to manage assets to create value and strengthen its balance sheet.

The company is selling to pan-European infrastructure fund manager Asterion Industrial Partners for €550 million, and it expects to generate capital gains before taxes and controlling interests of around €260 million.

Its deal also includes a housing services agreement. The operator group will continue to provide and manage services it has been offering customers from the centres, and will maintain direct relationships with the customers.

In turn, Asterion will be able to benefit from the sales network of Telefonica to market the remaining capacity of the data centres.

“Telefonica therefore maintains its commercial positioning, the relationship with its customers and its leadership in offering connectivity services and cloud capabilities for the corporate segment,” it said in a statement.

The data centres being sold are located in Argentina (2); Brazil (2); Chile (1); Spain (2); Mexico (1); Peru (2); and the US (1). The deal is expected to close in around two months, with the exception of four sites where the effective transfer is subject to authorisation and administrative proceedures.