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India's Bharti Airtel to sell 3,100 telecom towers in Africa to Helios Towers [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports]
[July 10, 2014]

India's Bharti Airtel to sell 3,100 telecom towers in Africa to Helios Towers [IntelliNews - Weekly Reports]


(IntelliNews - Weekly Reports Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) India-based telecoms group Bharti Airtel has agreed to sell 3,100 telecom towers in four African countries to telecom infrastructure group Helios Towers Africa (HTA), India's business daily The Economic Times reported, quoting a joint statement by the two companies. Neither the price of the deal nor the names of the four countries were disclosed.



The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is in line with Airtel's strategy to sell its all 15,000 towers across 17 African countries, in a deal estimated at up to USD 3bn. The Indian company plans to use the proceeds from the now agreed sale to cut debt and capital expenditure. It will have full access to the towers under a long-term lease contract.

Helios Towers Africa has operations in Ghana, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as a sister company in Nigeria (Helios Towers Nigeria). It claims that upon completion of the deal, it will become the largest independent tower company in Africa with a portfolio of 7,800 towers. HTA's owners include George Soros-backed Helios Investment Partners, Quantum Strategic Partners, Albright Capital Management, RIT Capital Partners and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).


There is a wider shift in Africa towards co-location and leasing towers from independent tower operators. Recent media reports suggested that South Africa-based MTN plans to sell USD 1bn worth of mobile network towers in Nigeria. France's Orange is also said to be in talks to sell a number of towers in Sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt.

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