In another conglomerate-level deal, the Aboitiz clan has signed a P9.2-billion deal to buy cell sites built by the PLDT Group owned by Manny V. Pangilinan.
The purchase was made by Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc., a joint venture composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital and Partners Group.
The Pangilinan-led Smart and Digitel Mobile supplied Unity with 650 telecommunications towers located in Visayas and Mindanao under a sale and leaseback arrangement on Monday (December 19) just as PLDT is in the middle of a corporate funding scandal.
“The Philippines is a rising technology powerhouse and one of Asia’s fast growing digital economies. However, despite the country’s increasing reliance on digital technologies, it is behind other Southeast Asian countries in terms of network connectivity,” said Andrew Kwok, managing director and head of private infrastructure for Asia at Partners Group.
“We see Unity playing a key role in addressing this gap through building a tower portfolio, which is aligned with our vision of transforming it into the leading telecommunications infrastructure platform in the Philippines,” he added.
The recent development in Unity’s tower infrastructure portfolio also supports AIC’s mission of enabling businesses and uplifting communities through better infrastructure.
Unity CEO Robin Sarmiento, whose company is aptly named after the campaign branding of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, said their goal is greater connectivity nationwide.
The Unity-PLDT Group agreement boosts the Aboitiz unit’s asset base to over 1,000 active macro towers and around 500 poles for small cells in key cities nationwide.