GTL Infrastructure and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure (QTIL) have been shortlisted to pick up a strategic stake in the tower assets of Saudi Telecom Company (STC).
In July 2010, STC had appointed Morgan Stanley, Dubai to bring in a strategic partner for its 12,000-strong tower portfolio. A separate joint venture was to be formed, where the new strategic partner where to hold between 51-60 per cent stake, with STC owning the residual minority share. Booz Allen & Company has also been advising Saudi on strategy. Representatives of the advisors have been frequenting India to understand the potential suitors of the towers.
Investment bankers aware of the transaction said companies including the American Tower Company, Crown Castle and a French independent tower company had also shown interest. Though the final deal value is still not clear and would finally be dependent on the quantity of stake that gets offered, news reports have said the enterprise value of STC’s towers will be $1.4 billion.
