Tower company Helios Towers Africa (HTA) has agreed to acquire more than 1,000 towers in Tanzania from Vodacom Group, a subsidiary of UK’s Vodafone Group.
The structure of the stock and cash transaction – the value of which is understood to be…
Tower company Helios Towers Africa (HTA) has agreed to acquire more than 1,000 towers in Tanzania from Vodacom Group, a subsidiary of UK’s Vodafone Group.
The structure of the stock and cash transaction – the value of which is understood to be around the US$75m mark – involves Vodacom acquiring a 24.5% stake in Helios Towers Tanzania (HTT), a unit of HTA.
In 2011, Millicom also acquired a 25% stake in HTT in a similar tower transaction. HTA owns the remaining interest in the unit.
The deal is Vodacom’s first ever tower transaction.
Helios, which is backed by funds managed by George Soros and Madeleine Albright among others, will acquire 1,149 towers, expanding its coverage in Africa to 4,700 owned sites.
HTA added in the statement that Vodacom will “lease back the infrastructure subject to a long-tem contract and, pro forma for the acquisition, HTA will be providing close to 2,700 points of service to Vodacom and affiliates across Africa.”
The company is also planning on installing new towers, HTA CFO Andres de Orleans-Borbon told TelecomFinance. Between five and six countries are targeted for expansion beyond Tanzania, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo where it is already present, he added.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. No financial advisers worked on the transaction.
