Apollo Global Management is competing against Asterion, CVC Capital Partners and Wren House in the race to help Avatel, a Spanish telecoms company, in its bid to buy fiber operator Lyntia Access from Antin Infrastructure Partners, sources said.

The process is no longer structured and Avatel is speaking to various potential co-investors separately, said a source familiar with the situation. The talks with investors are running in parallel with Avatel's confirmatory due diligence to buy Lyntia Access, said a second source familiar.

Exclusivity ends around the end of October, the second source added.

The Lyntia Access valuation agreed with Antin now is around EUR 920m, but Asterion won’t go over EUR 800m, the first source said. However, the final price will depend on the outcome of due diligence, the second source said.

Given the difference over valuations, Asterion could join a consortium with Wren House, the first source said.

Spokespeople for Avatel, Apollo, Wren House and CVC declined to comment. Antin and Asterion did not respond to requests to comment.

Governance is one of the issues in the talks, the first source said. However, proposals on governance are coming from the funds, rather than Avatel itself, the second source said.  

Avatel, Spain’s fifth-largest telecoms provider and Lyntia Access’ main customer, has negotiated an exclusivity agreement to buy Lyntia Access after an auction yielded disappointing results, as reported. Lyntia Access connects 2.4m homes in coastal areas and mid-sized towns in Spain.  

Avatel has an indicative agreement with Antin to pay EUR 920m including debt for the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) operator, according to the first source, but lacks the cash to finance the deal. The telco mandated Banco Santander and Lazard to find a co-investor that could put up part of the equity, four sources familiar said.

Santander and Lazard did not respond to requests for comment.