Cellnex and EIB Sign €375 Million Loan to Accelerate 5G Deployment in Europe

✦ Meridian Analysis

Cellnex and the European Investment Bank have signed a €375 million loan agreement that will underpin a €770 million investment programme to expand 5G infrastructure across Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. Cellnex – the listed tower operator that manages more than 115 000 sites in ten European markets – is the borrower. The loan is structured under the EU’s TechEU programme, which is funded with €250 billion for digital and technological projects through 2027. The financing will be drawn down to fund new tower construction, urban site deployment, distributed‑antenna‑system integration and the upgrade of Spain’s digital terrestrial television network. Approximately half of the new infrastructure will be located in cohesion regions, aiming to reduce the digital gap. Deal professionals will be looking for the undisclosed terms of the loan – interest rate, amortisation schedule, covenant package and any optionality for further tranches – as well as the timeline for regulatory clearances and the sequencing of the 5G roll‑out. Confirmation of the exact deployment milestones and any co‑financing arrangements with local operators would also be material for assessing the transaction’s impact on Cellnex’s cash‑flow profile.

The Meridian Weekly