Airtel sells 3,100 towers in Africa; could fetch Rs. 3k cr.

Bharti Airtel said recently it would sell about 3,100 telecom towers spread across four countries in Africa to Helios Towers Africa. Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, and Helios Towers have signed an agreement for the same.

While Bharti Airtel did not disclose the deal value, tower companies, who operate in Africa, said the valuation of towers ranges between Rs. 40 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh depending on the location. Out of 17 countries in Africa, where Bharti Airtel has operations, valuation is higher at Rs. 1 crore in Nigeria.

The valuation of the deal could be between Rs. 1,600 crore and Rs. 3,100 crore. Bharti Airtel has not given the details on the location of the 3,100 towers. Bharti Airtel has about 15,000 towers in Africa. In the earlier deals in the tower infrastructure space in Africa - such as Tanzania's Millicom's deal for 1,000 towers and MTN's deals in Ivory Coast, Uganda and Cameroon - one tower was valued at between Rs. 73 lakh and Rs. 1 crore.

BS