Holland & Knight Advising Telefónica Sale of Mexican Data Center to Asterion Industrial Partners

MIAMI (June 14, 2019) – Holland & Knight is advising Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica Group on the sale of its data center in Mexico to Asterion Industrial Partners, a Pan-European infrastructure fund manager. The global transaction, which was announced on May 29, includes 11 data centers for €550 million with the installed service capacity of 29 MW located in seven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Peru and the United States. The deal is expected to close in the following month.

The sale also includes the signing of a housing services agreement that ensures Telefónica will continue to provide and manage the services it has been offering its customers from these centers and will maintain the direct relationship with them. In turn, this agreement will allow Asterion to leverage Telefónica Group's sales network to market the remaining capacity of the data centers.

The transaction is part of Telefónica's strategy to reduce debt and maximize shareholder profits. The company expects to generate capital gains, before taxes and non-controlling interests, of around €260 million from the sale.

Holland & Knight Mexico City-based Partner Luis Rubio Barnetche and Senior Counsel Selene Espinosa are acting as counsel to Telefónica.

"This is a significant transaction for Telefónica and part of its overall strategy to reduce debt moving forward," said Mr. Rubio. "The deal is extremely complex because of its multi-jurisdictional nature, technical components, and unique provisions regarding the continuation of service to customers."

Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world and maintains a significant presence in 16 countries in Europe and Latin America. Asterion is an independent manager focused on infrastructure investment in Europe based in Madrid, and present in Paris and London.