Earlier this month, Reuters reported that US telco Verizon is planning to sell its datacentre business in a potential US$2.5 billion deal. Now Verizon CFO Fran Shammo has confirmed during the company’s fourth quarter conference call that it is looking at options for its datacentre operations, reports Data Center Knowledge.
Shammo told investors, “.., we’ll continue to look for opportunities. The datacentre is an exploratory exercise to see if the asset is more valuable inside or outside of the portfolio.”
Shammo added, “I view that asset similar to the way we view others. Is there a way to monetize this asset that contributes value to our shareholders and gives us the capability to move that capital into higher returning assets for Verizon?” He emphasised that Verizon has not reached a deal yet.
The Reuters report said at the time that the portfolio includes 48 datacentres generating around US$275 million of annual EBITDA and that Citigroup was acting as advisor. At the time, neither company would comment on the matter.
