Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has agreed to sell a 16.67% stake in UK mobile towers business Cornerstone to infrastructure fund GLIL Infrastructure for £360m in cash, a deal that values Cornerstone at £2.16bn. Speculation that a deal with GLIL was imminent emerged earlier this week : VMO2 began the process of selling a stake in the towers operation in April this year. Following the sale, VMO2 will still hold a 33.33% stake in Cornerstone, which has about 20,000 sites across the UK, while its joint venture partner Vantage Towers will own the remaining 50%. "Selling a minority stake in Cornerstone is a logical move for us," noted VMO2 CEO Lutz Schüler in this announcement. "We are partially monetising our tower infrastructure, while retaining operational and strategic co-control in a key asset as we roll out 5G to more of the country and boost 4G connectivity.