Telefonica expects up to 1.5 bn euros from Telxius listing

Spain's indebted telecoms giant Telefonica said Tuesday it hoped to raise up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) from the listing of a stake in subsidiary Telxius, planned for October 3.

In a statement, the group said it could float up to 40 percent of Telxius, which manages its infrastructure assets, including over 31,000 kilometres (19,000 miles) of fibre-optic submarine cables and 15,000 telecom towers in Spain.

The indicative price range for each share has been set between 12 and 15 euros, "which would put Telxius Telecom's (entire) market capitalisation between 3 and 3.75 billion euros, the company said.

Telxius will float on October 3 "in the Spanish stock markets".

Telefonica, one of the world's biggest telecoms groups, had a debt pile of 52.57 billion euros at the end of June.

As such, it is on the hunt for cash and it is also considering a possible listing of its British unit O2, after the European Commission blocked its sale to Hong Kong group Hutchison Whampoa over fears it would inflict higher prices on consumers.

The group reported a net profit of 1.24 billion euros in the first half of 2016 -- a 42.1 percent drop from the same time last year -- due in part to currency fluctuations.