Indonesia’s Tower Bersama Infrastructure is close to acquiring 4,000 telecom towers from local telecom services provider Indosat. The deal could reportedly reach approximately US$500m.
Previously, it had been suggested that PT Telkom and Solusi…
Indonesia’s Tower Bersama Infrastructure is close to acquiring 4,000 telecom towers from local telecom services provider Indosat. The deal could reportedly reach approximately US$500m.
Previously, it had been suggested that PT Telkom and Solusi Tunas Pratama were also interested in the towers. But according to a statement by Tower Bersama dated 15 November, the MoU signed between Bersama and Indosat is “exclusive”.
Last year, Indosat director Fadzri Sentosa revealed that Citi was advising the company on its tower sale process. Barclays Capital is believed to be acting as financial adviser for Bersama.
In September, TelecomFinance also reported that that eight banks – ANZ, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Credit Agricole, UOB, BNP Paribas, DBS, OCBC, and Standard Bank – were working on a US$200m financing for Bersama. The loan has now reportedly been signed.
If sealed, this acquisition would be the second tower transaction for Bersama with just a few months.
In late September, the tower company finalised the purchase of local independent towerco Mitrayasa Sarana Informasi (Infratel) for Rp200bn (US$23.5m).
Through this deal, Bersama added 263 tower sites, 332 shelter-only sites, and 672 tenancies plus an order book to its portfolio.
The company said at the time that it would finance the acquisition with the proceeds from its IPO. In October last year, the company raised US$220m in its listing.
Bersama, which is majority-owned by Saratoga Capital and Provident Capital, currently controls approximately 3,000 towers in the country, according to reports.
It is suggested that a deal with Indosat, which is controlled by Qatari incumbent QTel, could see Bersama becoming the largest independent towerco in Indonesia.
As is the case for other booming economies, the country is faced with increasing mobile traffic and therefore the need for major infrastructure investment.
Although deals have been few and far between, several operators have, in recent months, announced intentions to monetise their tower assets, via sales or IPOs.
But so far, the government remains against foreign investment in towercos for national security reasons.
