Australian investment bank Macquarie Asset Management has sold Czech telecommunication, media and technology infrastructure group Ceske Radiokomunikace (CRa) to investment company Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, Macquarie announced in its press release.

“We are proud to have supported Ceske Radiokomunikace’s growth story over the past decade as it has evolved from a traditional broadcasting infrastructure owner and operator, into a leading digital infrastructure platform,” commented Martin Gebauer, Head of Central and Eastern Europe for Macquarie Asset Management’s infrastructure team. 

According to Vit Vazan, CEO of CRa, in recent years CRa has transformed from a TV and radio broadcaster into a highly advanced diversified technology company with highly reliable and secure products and services, thus the company is ready for the new challenges of the digital world. “We are pleased to be part of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure and to continue to serve existing customers and expand into new business segments,” he said. 

The sale price has not been disclosed, however, according to the analysts approached by the Czech News Agency it could have reached CZK20bn-30bn (€775mn-1.16bn). 

“It can also be expected that the new owner will want a relatively generous price to get back in the form of a soft pressure on prices or contractual conditions. This is not very good news for the telecommunications market, but the good news is that the buyer is not a company from a country hostile to the Czech Republic or the EU,” said Capitalinked.com analyst Radim Dohnal.

Macquarie funds entered CRa in 2011. According to Dohnal, infrastructure funds regularly sell their investments after five to 10 years. "In this case, the seller has certainly been helped by the relaxed monetary policy of the central banks in the developed world, which raises the prices of all assets that generate a steady revenue,” he said.

“Ceske Radiokomunikace is a national champion with an unrivalled portfolio of assets in a core European country. We are delighted to be partnering with their strong management team, its employees and other stakeholders in order to continue building Ceske Radiokomunikace as a leading digital infrastructure platform serving the broadcast, telecommunications and data centre markets,” added Steven Marshall, Chairman of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure. 

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited primarily invests in the core infrastructure of the digital economy, such as data centres, fibreoptic networks and broadcast and telecommunication towers, in the UK, Europe and North America. 

Macquarie is a long-term investor in Czechia´s infrastructure, currently managing investments in GasNet, the operator of a 65,000-kilometre gas distribution network with 2.3mn connections across the country.