Telefonica sells fibre in Peru to cut debt

Telefonica announced it will sell off shares in its Peruvian fibre optic unit PangeaCo in a move that will shave €200 million off its debt pile, and continue its asset-selling strategy.

Reuters reported, the Spanish operator group sold a 54% stake to private investment company KKR and 10% to Entel’s local unit, Telefonica will retain 34%. It did not reveal how much the deals were worth, only how much debt it would pay off due to the transaction.

A banking source close to the deal speaking to Reuters valued the entire Peruvian unit at €550 million including debt.

Telefonica has for years sold off assets to cut debt and fund expensive 5G deployments across its footprint.

In a statement KKR revealed, PangeaCo will combine its fibre footprint in Peru with Telefonica and Entel. The investment firm also added it planned to invest $200 million to double PangeaCo’s network to spread coverage to 5.2 million homes by the end of 2026.