Financed ProjectsHightel Albania

Identification Code:

OP/16/0002

Total Operation Cost:

16.600.000

Maturity:

84 months

Operation Status:

Description and Purpose of the Operation:

Provision of a long term debt facility to Hightel Towers Albania (the "Borrower", "Hightel Albania") for the corporate needs of the company and in particular for financing acquisition of towers and rooftops infrastructure from Plus Network, building of new units, upgrading of acquired units and construction of new microwave network infrastructure. In particular, Hightel Albania, a subsidiary of Italian company Hightel Towers SPA ("Hightel Towers", "Sponsors") which focuses on towering and housing services for mobile and telecommunication equipment, will acquire special purpose company Plus Network, a spin off from Albanian telecom operator Plus Communications, ("Plus") owning 122 towers and 164 rooftops. Afterwards, Hightel Albania intends to rent back the antenna infrastructure to Plus for continuation of its operations, as well as to other interested parties, such as media or telecom companies. Total acquisition consideration is estimated around EUR 12 million. The project shall also include investments for the upgrading of the existing assets (circa 710 TEUR), construction of new units (expected to reach maximum circa EUR 2.15 million) and construction of microwave network infrastructure (circa EUR 2.5 million) over a period of 6 years. The purpose of the Operation is to support a well-experienced company in its attempt for optimized management and increased efficiency of mobile network infrastructure and related services in Albania.

Countries of Operation:

Albania (100,00 %)

Financial Product:

Loans

Sector:

Telecommunication Services

Domain:

Private

Borrower/Client:

Hightel Albania, was founded in October 2014 as an Albanian subsidiary of Hightel Towers, incorporated especially for acquiring the network of Plus. Hightel Albania’s shareholding structure is expected to include apart from Hightel Towers (74%), several Albanian shareholders (26%) with significant experience in the media sector.

Co-Financiers/Participants:

N/A

Guarantors/Sponsors:

Hightel Towers’ core business develops along designing and construction of telecommunication towers and providing services to mobile operators. In particular it offers housing and towering services for telecom facilities, consulting, engineering, design, construction and network infrastructure management services. Hightel Towers also deals with lease contracts, and industrial and real estate management. Its integrated range of services includes support for mobile network design, roll-out, management and optimisation as well as side services such as land/rooftop contracts renegotiation and site decommissioning. Hightel Towers is listed on the Marche Libre in Paris since January 2015.

Developmental and Regional Cooperation Impact:

The Operation will assist the country during its upcoming digitalization phase via the establishment of co-siting services, particularly in view of the growing mobile data traffic and ongoing developments in transmission network to meet increasing needs for coverage, capacity and quality demand. Besides, the operation will indirectly contribute to Albania’s alignment with the recent liberalization of telecom industry and introduction of legislation adopting the principles established in the European Union’s regulatory framework for communications. Finally, apart from bringing profitability to the company, the operation is expected to contribute to the development of the local economy, boost investment, create new employment and generate tax revenues to the State budget and improve the country’s telecom and mobile network infrastructure.

Environmental Classification and Impact (summary):

Assigned E&S Category B. The acquisition of existing network towers is not expected to generate new E&S risk and impacts in addition to the already existing ones, which are limited, site-specific and can be efficiently managed through prevention and mitigation measures widely used by the telecommunication industry.

Operation Leader:

Energy & Infrastructure

E-mail:

ei@bstdb.org