Telecom and satellite operator Indosat is considering selling up to 14,000 towers for about US$1.4bn, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.
The sale is expected to take place in the next few months, although an Indosat…
Telecom and satellite operator Indosat is considering selling up to 14,000 towers for about US$1.4bn, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.
The sale is expected to take place in the next few months, although an Indosat director, Fadzri Sentosa, was quoted as saying that the company is still evaluating its options on whether to sell or retain its towers and that it may be decided this year or next year.
Sentosa also said the operator has appointed Citigroup as a strategic adviser on its tower assets. The potential bidders for the towers include state-owned telco PT Telkom, which may soon sell its CDMA assets to Bakrie Telecom, and tower operator Tower Bersama Infrastructure, which recently got a US$350m financing and is set for a US$202m IPO.
A few weeks ago, Indosat said it was open to all forms of telecoms sector M&A, according to media reports. Qatari telecoms incumbent Qtel owns 65% – the maximum allowed by Indonesian regulators – of Indosat.
In August, Indosat completed a US$650m 10-year senior unsecured bond offering.
The fixed-rate note, which is non-callable in the first five years, carries a coupon of 7.375% and was priced at 99.478 to yield 7.45%. Joint bookrunning managers for the sale were Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and RBS.
The money will be used to fully repay two dollar-denominated notes due 2010 and 2012. As of the end of March 2010, that debt had a total outstanding principal amount of US$342.8m.
