Indonesia’s Tower Bersama Infrastructure is planning to buy back a 5% stake in itself from local telecom services provider and satellite operator Indosat.
Tower Bersama CEO Herman Setya Budi told local reporters that the deal will be financed using…
Indonesia’s Tower Bersama Infrastructure is planning to buy back a 5% stake in itself from local telecom services provider and satellite operator Indosat.
Tower Bersama CEO Herman Setya Budi told local reporters that the deal will be financed using cash reserves, which stood at approximately Rp248bn (US$25m) as of 31 March 2013.
The towerco will seek shareholder approval at a meeting on Wednesday (24 July) and the stake purchase could start as early as August when the lock-in period ends.
In February last year, Tower Bersama agreed to buy 2,500 towers from Indosat in a deal valued at US$519m, split between an upfront consideration of US$406m and a maximum potential earn-out amount of US$113m.
At the time, Tower Bersama stated that “the upfront consideration will comprise cash as well as newly issued [Tower Bersama] shares. The cash consideration […] will represent approximately 5% of [Tower Bersama]’s enlarged share capital”.
Alexander Rusli, the CEO of Indosat, was also quoted as saying that his company is looking to divest itself of the 5% stake as soon as the lock-in period finishes.
The tower company and Indosat were not immediately available for comment.
Meanwhile, Budi reportedly confirmed that Bersama is participating in a ‘beauty contest’ to buy Telkom’s tower unit Mitratel.
Sarana Menara, PT Solusi Tunas Pratama (STP) and PT Centrin Online are also potential candidates for a merger with Mitratel, which manages around 3,000 towers, it was reported in February.
Tower Bersama submitted a bid in July and is being advised by UBS on the deal, its CEO said.
