©Reuters. Business information for KKR & Co is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/ File Photo
MANILA (Reuters) – Private equity firm KKR & Co (NYSE:) will invest $400 million in telecommunications tower operations and expansion in the Philippines, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday, among a series of agreements as part of a $1 billion investment announced today. a vital trade mission.
KKR will develop and acquire approximately 2,000 telecommunications towers to support digital connectivity across the Philippines, the department said in a statement following a two-day trade and investment mission led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
In 2022, a unit of KKR acquired 3,529 telecom towers for 45 billion pesos ($814.73 million) in a sale-leaseback deal with Globe Telecom (OTC:) Inc. of the Philippines. The KKR unit purchased another 1,012 towers for more than 12.1 billion pesos from PLDT (NYSE:) Inc.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced American investments of more than $1 billion in the Philippines during the trade mission that included executives from 22 companies including United Airlines, Alphabet’s Google (NASDAQ:), Visa (NYSE:) and Microsoft ( NASDAQ:). .
Ally Power, a Maryland startup, announced a more than $400 million deal with a unit of energy distributor Manila Electric Co to build a hydrogen and electricity refueling station.
Microsoft is working with the Philippine central bank and ministries of Budget and Trade to identify how its artificial intelligence products can boost agency productivity, the Commerce Department said.
The United States seeks to deepen defense and economic ties with the Philippines, against the backdrop of a more aggressive China in the South China Sea.
($1 = 55.2330 Philippine pesos)