Bharti Airtel subsidiary sells tower portfolio in Tanzania

The telecom major on Wednesday announced that its subsidiary Airtel Africa reported the sale of tower portfolio belonging to Airtel Tanzania to a joint venture company owned by a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBA Communications Corporation.

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells.

The tower portfolio in Airtel Tanzania comprises approximately 1,400 towers which form part of the Group's wireless telecommunications infrastructure network. Under the terms of the transaction, the Group's subsidiary Airtel Tanzania plc will continue to develop, maintain and operate its equipment on the towers under a separate lease arrangement with the purchaser.

The consideration for the transaction is approximately $175 million of which approximately $157.5 million is payable on the first closing date (which is expected to take place in the second half of the Group's current financial year) with the balance payable in instalments upon the completion of the transfer of any remaining towers to the purchaser. Around $60 million from the proceeds will be used to invest in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the Government of Tanzania, as per the settlement described in the Airtel Africa IPO Prospectus document published in June 2019. The balance of the proceeds will be used to reduce debt at group level.

The transaction is the latest strategic divestment of the group's tower portfolio as it focusses on an asset-light business model and on its core subscriber-facing operations.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were down 0.73% at Rs 529 on BSE.

Bharti Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa. On a consolidated basis, the telecom major's net profit stood at Rs 759 crore in Q4 March 2021 compared with net loss of Rs 5,237 crore in Q4 March 2020. Net sales increased 11.9% to Rs 25,747.30 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

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