Lumen Is Said to Be in Talks to Sell $5B of Assets to Apollo Global

Lumen, the communications-infrastructure company, is in talks to sell some of its assets to PE firm Apollo Global, a media report says.

Lumen Technologies (LUMN) -Get Reportshares rose Tuesday after a report said the communications-infrastructure company is negotiating to sell some assets to private-equity titan Apollo Global Management (APO) -Get Report.

Knowledgeable sources provided the information to Bloomberg.

Lumen’s deal with the New York firm would involve Lumen’s consumer operations in some U.S. states and would be valued at more than $5 billion, the sources said.

If a deal happens, it could be completed in coming weeks, some of the sources said.

An Apollo spokeswoman declined to comment to Bloomberg, and Lumen, Monroe, La., didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lumen recently traded at $13.85, up 3%. The stock has jumped 29% in the past six months.

Apollo recently traded at $59.04, down 3.7%. It has climbed 25% in the past six months, a bountiful period for private equity.

In other communications news Tuesday,Nokia (NOK) -Get Report shares rose after the storied Finnish telecommunications company raised its earnings estimates.

“In the second quarter Nokia saw continued strength in the business, improving its expectations for the full year,” the company said. “Nokia now expects to revise upward its prior outlook ranges for 2021.”

The company on July 29 plans to provide full details of its revised fully-ear 2021 guidance, along with second-quarter earnings.

The previous forecast for 2021 included net sales, adjusted for currency fluctuations of 20.6 billion euros (US$24.3 billion) to 21.8 billion euros (US$25.7 billion); comparable operating margin of 7% to 10%; positive free cash flow; and comparable return on invested capital of 10% to 15%.

Nokia recently traded at $5.88, up 9.5%.