Airtel to sell out towers in Rwanda and Zambia by Sep 2015

Bharti Airtel Wednesday said it will complete the sellout of 1100 telecom towers in Rwanda and Zambia to Africa-based IHS Holdings Ltd. within nine months of the deal which was struck this month.

The completion for the sellout in Rwanda and Zambia is expected no later than six months and nine months respectively, company secretary Mukesh Bhavnani told the National Stock Exchange here.

The Indian telecom major concluded the deals with IHS Holdings Dec 12 through its public entities in Africa - Airtel Networks Zambia Plc and Airtel Rwanda Ltd.

The deal was struck as part of Bharti Airtel's effort to focus on its core line of business and reduce its ongoing capital expenditure which will enable the company to reduce its debts.

Earlier, the company had sold 4,800 telecom towers in Nigeria to American Tower Corp. for about $1 billion. It had divested another 3,500 telecom towers from its African operations to Eaton Towers.

In July, Bharti Airtel signed an agreement with Helios Towers Africa, a firm owned by a group of investors, to sell towers across four countries in the same continent.

-- Indo-Asian News Service

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