The partial sale of Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) Vantage Masts business is good for everyone involved – except Vodafone itself.
That is the conclusion of bulge bracket American broker JP Morgan.
The telco’s chief executive Nick Read reckons the £2.8bn ‘co-control’ deal with two private equity firms is positive.
The influx of cash allows Voda to pay down some of its debt pile while allowing it to retain a say over the mast network during its planned 5G roll-out, he told investors.
However, JPM in a short note, said the deal was actually a ‘negative for Vodafone’.
It said there would be disappointment around the fact the transaction was not a ‘full sell-down and, hence, limits the up-front value crystallisation’.