Indonesia’s Tower Bersama is in the process of securing around US$1.8bn in debt financing to bid for towers owned by mobile operator XL Axiata.
Finance director Helmi Yusan Santoso told the Jakarta Post that his company has already agreed US$1bn in…
Indonesia’s Tower Bersama is in the process of securing around US$1.8bn in debt financing to bid for towers owned by mobile operator XL Axiata.
Finance director Helmi Yusan Santoso told the Jakarta Post that his company has already agreed US$1bn in loans and has received shareholder and regulatory approvals to issue bonds worth a total US$780m.
Earlier this month, XL Axiata confirmed plans to offload some of its infrastructure in the second half of the year to repay part of its debt.
The operator’s liabilities, which stood at Rp28trn (US$2.35bn) at the end of the first quarter, recently increased when it bought smaller rival Axis in a US$865m deal.
XL, a subsidiary of Malaysian giant Axiata, said it would run a tender process to offload the sites. The operator, which is expected to disclose the tender documents soon, has over 8,000 towers in Indonesia.
Towercos Bersama and Solusi Tunas Pratama (STP) have both confirmed their interest in the sites. Other rumoured suitors include Sarana Menara Nusantara and Inti Bangun Sejahtera.
Santoso has not disclosed how many towers Bersama is considering buying. A sale and lease back agreement is reportedly on the cards with XL Axiata.
Tower Bersama, which could not be reached to comment on the report, has over 9,000 towers in Indonesia and more than 16,000 tenants on the sites.
