Bharti Airtel: To Sell African Towers Business to Helios Towers

   By R. Jai Krishna 
 

NEW DELHI--Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's largest cellphone company, said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its telecommunications towers business to Helios Tower Africa in an effort to cut debt as well as spending on expanding networks.

According to the terms of the deal, Bharti Airtel International Netherlands B.V., the holding company for Bharti's African operations, will sell its nearly 3100 telecom towers. However, it will then lease them back from Helios, which is and independent company engaged in the business of building, managing and leasing telecom towers.

Bharti didn't disclose the value of the deal.

"The agreements while allowing Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, would also enable it to deleverage through debt reduction, and will significantly reduce its ongoing capital expenditure," Bharti said in a statement.

New Delhi-based Bharti, in which SingTel owns about 32%, has been struggling to grow in the face of intense competition and high interest costs related to the loans it took in 2010 to buy the African operations of Mobile Telecommunications Co.

The agreement still needs regulatory approvals in the two countries, the statement added.

Write to R. Jai Krishna at [e-mail]

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