Vodafone's Vantage expands portfolio, affirms guidance pre IPO

LONDON (Reuters) - Vantage Towers, the infrastructure business spun out by Vodafone, said on Monday it had expanded its tower portfolio as it confirmed its outlook ahead of its expected initial public offering in Frankfurt.

The world's second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone plans to float Vantage on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March in a share offering worth around 3 billion euros, three people close to the matter have said.

Vantage reaffirmed proforma recurring free cash flow guidance of 375-385 million euros ($455-$467 million) for its fiscal year to March 31, implying a modest increase from 375 million last year.

"This set of results shows that we are tracking well on all of our plans," CEO Vivek Badrinath told reporters, while referring inquiries on the IPO to parent company Vodafone.Vantage increased the number of towers it runs to 82,000 in the first nine months of its fiscal year, following the recent addition of its UK joint venture, the Duesseldorf-based company said in a statement.

Badrinath has said he is willing to join the deal-making fray as telecoms operators divest tower assets to cut debt and invest in network upgrades, but even with its existing asset base sees a decade of growth ahead.

(Reporting by Douglas Busvine and Paul Sandle; editing by James Davey, Jason Neely and Jane Merriman)