Bharti Airtel may sell tower assets in Africa

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is expected to sell-off over 15,000 towers in Africa for about $2-3 billion, which will help it reduce debt, bankers familiar with the development said.

The world's fourth largest operator is believed to have shortlisted four companies for the sale which include Helios Towers Africa, American Tower Corporation and Eaton Towers.

When contacted a Bharti spokesperson declined to comment.

Queries sent to Helios Towers Africa, Eaton Towers and American Tower Corporation remain unanswered.

The net debt of the company at the end of March 31, 2014 stood at Rs 60,541.6 crore.

The company has been trying to sell its tower assets in Africa for quite sometime but nothing has been finalised yet.

Airtel had entered the African market in 2010 after acquiring Zain Telecom for about $10.7 billion. The company now offers services in 17 African countries but is yet to turn profitable.

In order to reduce debt, the company has also been raising money through foreign currency bonds.

Last month, it raised around $2 billion in a dual currency international bond sale.

In March this year, the company had raised around Rs 2,453.2 crore through issue of bonds in the Swiss market.

In December 2013, the Sunil Mittal-led firm had raised euro 750 million (about Rs 6,350 crore) in the first such bond issue by an corporate and received bids worth euro 3.8 billion.

The company than re-opened the issue in January and raised 250 million euros.

Airtel Africa witnessed 2% growth in revenues for the fourth quarter of FY 14. The revenues stood at $1.14 billion as compared to $1.12 billion last time.

Net loss for the region also widened to $124 million as compared to a loss of $91 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

"The quarter was impacted by the seasonal downturn in parts of Africa and regulatory interventions in Nigeria," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (Africa) Christian de Faria had said during the company's results.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) in Africa saw 7% decline to $5.5 as against $5.9 last year.