Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with Helios Tower Africa (HTA) to sell 3,100 sites of its portfolio of 15,000 towers in the continent. The towers sites under consideration are located in Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo and Chad. The deal has been valued between $400-$500 million. Airtel would use the funds to pare its debt, which stood at Rs 605.41 billion as of March 2014. Further, the sale of these tower sites will enable the operator to reduce its opex and focus on its core business.
As part of the agreement, Airtel will lease back these tower sites from HTA under a long-term contract. Moreover, Airtel?s personnel will be transferred to HTA for operations and maintenance of these tower sites. The two companies will now seek statutory and regulatory approvals for the deal in their respective countries.
HTA is jointly owned by Helios Investment Partners, Quantum Strategic Partners, Albright Capital Management, RIT Capital Partners and the International Finance Corporation. At present, HTA operates in Ghana, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deal will enable HTA to expand its business across the continent. Further, the African company will own a portfolio of 7,800 towers following the conclusion of the deal.
