Airtel, American Tower inks deal to sell 1,350 towers in Tanzania
Bharti Airtel Ltd. on Monday announced that an agreement has been reached with the American telecom giant, American Tower Corporation (American Tower) to sell approximately 1,350 communication towers in Tanzania. The agreement was signed through its subsidiary, Airtel Tanzania Ltd. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals. As part of the deal, American Tower may obtain nearly 100 additional sites for erecting the towers under development for an extra sum. Airtel will act as an anchor tenant on American Tower’s deals acting under a lease for an initial ten-year period. “The proposed transaction is a continuation of our stated philosophy of divesting passive infrastructure assets and promoting sharing of towers to enhance operational efficiencies that will further the overall growth of telecom services. Airtel remains committed to Tanzania and will continue to invest in its operations and serve customers with world-class services,” said Christian de Faria, MD & CEO, Bharti Airtel (Africa). “We are extremely pleased to announce our entry into Tanzania and expand our partnership with Airtel. With a young, growing population, tremendous growth potential and a complementary location relative to our existing African operations. We view Tanzania as a highly attractive adjacent market opportunity,” said Hal Hess, EVP & President, American Tower (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). With the sale of the towers, the Indian telecom giant will now pay attention to its core businesses and customers. The deal will also help the company in deleveraging through reducing debt and lessening capital expenses on infrastructure deals.
March 22, 2016 | 03:20pm IST
to success.