The company aims to sell additional towers in six African markets in the coming months
Indian telecommunications group Bharti Airtel has obtained nearly $1.3 billion from the sale of its telecommunication towers in five African markets. In a note to the National Stock Exchange of India, the company said the proceeds from the transactions will be used to reduce the operator’s debt.
According to local press reports, the Indian telecom firm has already completed the sale of its towers in Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda and Congo Brazzaville. Bharti Airtel also expects to complete the sale of towers in another six African markets in the coming months as part of its plans to divest tower assets in 13 African countries.
Bharti Airtel recently announced the termination of agreements with Helios Towers Africa for the sale of towers assets in Chad and Tanzania. The company has also signed deals to sell towers in its African markets with Eaton Towers, American Tower and IHS. On July 1, American Tower said it has closed its previously announced acquisition of approximately 4,700 communications sites in Nigeria from Bharti Airtel.
In Africa, Bharti Airtel has telecom operations in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Chad, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Niger, Seychelles and Tanzania. In the first quarter of 2015, Bharti Airtel’s operations in Africa generated revenuesof $1 billion, down from $1.14 billion in the same period the previous year. The company ended March with a total of 76.26 million subscribers in Africa, up compared to 69.44 million at the end of March 2014, according to its latest financial report.
The company also had a total of 18,819 telecom sites across all its African operations, with 3G sites reaching over 10,000 by the end of the first quarter.
Bharti Airtel is owned by Indian holding group Bharti Enterprises and Singaporean operator SingTel. In addition to India and Africa, the company also operates in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
