Wind said to start talks with Abertis for Italy towers, Providence Equity out

MILAN – VimpelCom Ltd.’s Italian unit started exclusive talks with Abertis Infraestructuras SA to sell its wireless towers to the Spanish company, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, Italy’s third-largest wireless carrier, is selling about 6,000 transmission towers, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Wind values the assets at as much as 700 million euros ($797 million), one of the people said.

The Italian carrier may also sell an additional 1,700 towers, which could boost the valuation to about 900 million euros, the person said. Abertis beat out rival bids from American Tower Corp., Mediaset SpA’s EI Towers SpA and Investment fund F2i SGR SpA, which teamed with Providence Equity Partners Inc.

Selling wireless towers is a way for carriers to raise cash quickly and focus on services instead of hardware maintenance. Tower companies such as Abertis or American Tower Corp. typically lease them back to the seller or to other carriers for them to install transmission equipment.

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A press officer for Barcelona-based Abertis declined to comment. A Vimpelcom spokesman in Amsterdam declined to comment.

Ansa reported earlier that Wind held exclusive talks with Abertis for its transmission towers.

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