Indian giant Bharti Airtel has agreed to sell over 3,500 towers in six African countries to Eaton Towers.
The transaction, announced today, comes two months after rival towerco Helios Towers snapped up 3,100 sites in four African nations from…
Indian giant Bharti Airtel has agreed to sell over 3,500 towers in six African countries to Eaton Towers.
The transaction, announced today, comes two months after rival towerco Helios Towers snapped up 3,100 sites in four African nations from Bharti.
The price tag for the Eaton deal has not been revealed but TelecomFinance has learnt that it is around the US$500m-US$700m mark.
The transaction will be funded with a mix of debt and equity, some of which has already been secured, it is understood.
Bharti used an in-house financial adviser for the transaction while Eaton mandated Moelis & Co for financial advice and Allen & Overy for legal advice.
Under the agreement, subject to statutory and regulatory approvals, Bharti will have a 10-year lease contract on the towers.
Offloading its passive infrastructure to focus on its core business will enable the India-based operator to cut its capex as well as reduce its debt level, according to a joint statement.
For Eaton, which is already present in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa, this acquisition enables it to expand its coverage to seven countries in total with more than 5,000 towers.
Eaton CEO Alan Harper commented: “This is a transformational deal which gives Eaton Towers the most diversified tower portfolio across Africa.”
According to TelecomFinance estimates, Bharti still has another 8,000 to 9,000 towers it could sell across the continent. A report in India’s Economic Times today suggests the Indian operator is close to agreeing a deal with either American Tower or IHS for 4,000 of its towers in Nigeria.
IHS has substantially bulked up its presence in Nigeria recently, after agreeing to take over 11,000 towers from Etisalat and MTN in two separate deals.
