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 krishna.jai@wsj.com
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