Bharti Airtel has singed an MOU with Helios Towers Africa (HTA) to sell off its telecom towers where it operates in Africa at an undisclosed amount according to ITA News.
HTA will own more than 7,800 towers across Africa, making it the largest independent tower company in the continent, according to Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
[signoff predefined=”Movie Review Signoff” icon=”icon-commented”]It is an important step towards the consolidation of tower assets across Africa that will drive industry-wide cost efficiencies through infrastructure sharing,” Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV Chairman Manoj Kohli said.The agreement will further help in accelerating the growth of telecom services in the continent and at the same time benefit the environment by avoiding duplication of infrastructure.[/signoff]
Airtel will divest the towers across four countries in Africa, in order to reduce debt and capital expenditure and allow Airtel to focus on its core business and customers.
HTA is jointly owned by Helios Investment Partners, Quantum Strategic Partners, Albright Capital Management, RIT Capital Partners and the International Finance Corporation. Helios Investment Partners is backed by billionaire investor George Soros.
As expected, deal is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective countries.
