American Tower and IHS Nigeria have emerged as potential suitors for Saudi operator Mobily’s cell tower assets.
The company confirmed in May it was studying the possibility of offloading its towers after reports alleged that it had sent letters inviting interest from international tower operators and private equity fir ms.
According to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg on Tuesday, Mobily is in early negotiations with American Tower and IHS, and formal bids have yet to be submitted.
An earlier report from the Wall Street Journal said Mobily owns 10,000 towers in Saudi Arabia and hopes to raise between US$1.5 billion and $2 billion from their sale. The same report claimed that the sale is being handled by New York-based TAP Advisors.
Meanwhile, in a separate announcement, Mobily’s parent company, U.A.E.-based Etisalat, revealed that the government has lifted restrictions on local institutions, foreign institutions and expatriate individuals owning the telco’s stock.
Today, Etisalat is 60% owned by the government via the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) and 40% owned by U.A.E. nationals.
Under the new rules, anyone will be permitted to take a stake in Etisalat up to a limit of 20%.
"It is worth mentioning…the EIA has no intention to reduce his [sic] stake in Etisalat for [the] time being," said Etisalat, in a statement.
