Helios Towers Africa is reportedly looking to raise around US$500m from investors to buy some of Bharti Airtel’s towers on the continent.
US private equity firm Providence Equity Partners is in talks to join Helios’ existing investors, which include…
Helios Towers Africa is reportedly looking to raise around US$500m from investors to buy some of Bharti Airtel’s towers on the continent.
US private equity firm Providence Equity Partners is in talks to join Helios’ existing investors, which include Albright Capital Management and George Soros’ Quantum Strategic Partners, according to the Financial Times citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Providence declined to comment and Helios was not available before the press deadline.
Helios alongside towercos IHS and Eaton are understood to be looking to split Bharti’s portfolio of African towers, estimated at up to US$2bn, among them.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that the Indian operator is selling assets on a country-by-country basis across at least a dozen geographies.
Helios recently applied for US$110m funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), one of its existing investors, to buy infrastructure across Africa, with a focus on Tanzania.
The IFC, which has yet to make decision on the funding, said the total cost of the project is estimated at around US$450m to bring Helios’ tower portfolio to more than 6,000 from 3,000 at the moment.
Besides Bharti, South African group MTN and UAE’s Etisalat are also selling towers, including in Nigeria where buyers are expected to battle for the assets.
IHS recently closed the acquisition of almost 1,300 towers from MTN in Zambia and Rwanda for around US$120m.
To finance the Rwandan and Zambian acquisitions, IHS will use some of the US$620m equity and debt funding secured since the beginning of the year.
The remaining proceeds will go towards financing future acquisitions, the tower operator said earlier this month.
