Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investing arm of Macquarie Group, today announced that PhilTower Consortium Inc (PhilTower) and Miescor Infrastructure Development Corporation (MIDC) have completed a transaction that creates one of the largest independent telecommunications towers companies in the Philippines.
This new entity is owned by a consortium of reputable global and local investors including Macquarie Capital, Stonepeak, Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and Global Network Inc. Macquarie Capital has been a shareholder in PhilTower since 2021 and committed 100 per cent of the equity to support PhilTower's acquisition of up to 1,350 telecommunications towers from Globe Telecom Inc.
Combining PhilTower and MIDC's existing towers and expertise, the new entity is a Philippines-wide company that will consist of a portfolio of over 3,300 operational towers, and pipeline of more than 2,100 committed orders. As one of the leading and largest tower companies in the Philippines, the new company is well-equipped to meet the country's increased demand for connectivity and quality digital infrastructure.
The new entity is focused on improving coverage for its mobile network operator clients and driving further investment into digital infrastructure as well as new synergies with its three main customers and mobile network operators being Globe, Smart and Dito. The transaction has now been approved by the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and all deal completion conditions have been completed, with both companies moving forward with the transition process.
Devid Gubiani, Chief Executive Officer of the new business and the former CEO of PhilTower, said: "I am confident that the combination of MIDC and PhilTower's unique strengths and competencies will further digitization objectives in the Philippines as the country's younger generation continues to drive exponential data consumption. The MIDC team's expertise and portfolio are highly complementary to PhilTower's, and together with our partners we will have the ability to make a real difference through the delivery of world-class telecoms infrastructure and services to our customers."
Ivan Varughese, Head of Infrastructure and Energy Capital, Asia-Pacific and Senior Managing Director, Macquarie Capital, said: "Since 2021, Macquarie Capital has invested and played an important role in supporting PhilTower's growth, using our development expertise in both infrastructure and telecommunications and flexible capital to help the company scale to the point that it is now a widely recognised industry leader. As the Philippines Government focuses on building up its digital infrastructure and empowering its people digitally, we are proud to be bridging the digital infrastructure gap for local communities across the country."
Macquarie Group has been operating in the Philippines for more than 20 years, employing over 1,000 people across M&A, public-private partnership advisory, equity research, asset management, as well as global support functions. Macquarie Capital is a principal and advisory business with a growing focus on energy transition and digital infrastructure sectors. Macquarie's Asia Equity Research team is one of the top regional brokers, introducing Philippine companies to an international investment audience.
Earlier this year, Macquarie Group CEO, Shemara Wikramanayake, was named as the Australian Government's Business Champion for the Philippines by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, at the ASEAN-Australia Summit in Melbourne. This month, Ms Wikramanayake led a delegation of prominent institutional investors to the Philippines, representing $A1.7 trillion of funds and assets under management, and companies with $A126 billion in market capitalisation.
