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Batelco to sell towers to fund acquisitions
06 December 2011
Bahrain Telecommunications considers sale and lease back of Bahrain and Jordan tower assets to finance takeovers
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Batelco
towers
Bahrain
Jordan
Zain
Saudi Telecom
Mobily
Bahrain Telecommunications is planning a sale and lease back of its tower assets in Bahrain and Jordan as part of its strategy to raise financing for takeovers. According to Reuters, the operator has selected Citigroup to advise on the sale, which is expected to fetch $200 million to $300 million.
Some bidders have already expressed interest for the assets, say the reports.
Reuters quoted Peter Kaliaropoulos, strategic assignments CEO at Batelco, as saying: “We are exploring all options to unlock value for our business and the towers is one of those options, but we have not made a decision on whether to lease them back or keep them — we are still going through the deliberations.”
Batelco is looking at takeovers outside Bahrain, following intense competition in the country from the local units of Zain and Saudi Telecom. The operator, which has a 37% share of Bahrain’s mobile market, could issue bonds to raise funds for acquisitions after obtaining ratings from Fitch and Standard and Poor’s, according to Reuters.
“We have no debt, so extra funds we derive, should we proceed with monetising the towers, will go towards future acquisitions because it reduces the cost of funding for us,” said Kaliaropoulos.
Meanwhile, its rivals Mobily and Saudi Telecom are planning to complete a tower-sharing agreement in Saudi Arabia by end of 2011, which will enable the two operators cut their network maintenance costs. GTB
Further reading from Global Telecoms Business:
Telefónica in German network sharing talks 02 Dec 2011
Private equity firms to buy Reliance's towers 14 Nov 2011
Wind considers tower sharing to cut costs 27 Oct 2011
Approval for GTL Infrastructure debt deal 13 Sep 2011
Helios Towers granted licence in Tanzania 26 Aug 2011