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Airtel pursues strategy of selling towers in Africa to reduce debt and cut capex.
Bharti Airtel has agreed to sell 950 telecoms towers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to independent towers company Helios Towers Africa, including towers that are currently under construction.
Although the size of the deal was not disclosed, Helios noted that it would boost the number of its towers in Africa to over 6,500 while also helping Airtel to reduce debt and capex in Africa. Airtel will have full access to the towers under a long-term lease contract.
Christian De Faria, executive chairman of Bharti Airtel International Netherlands, said the agreement is in line with its strategy of divesting passive infrastructure and promoting the sharing of towers.
“Airtel remains committed to DRC and will continue to invest in its operations and serve customers with world-class services,” he said.
Bharti Airtel operates mobile businesses in 17 markets across Africa, although it has agreed to sell its units in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone to Orange. According to the Economic Times of India, the company’s Africa operations have never posted a profit since entering the region 2010. The Africa unit posted a net loss of $59 million in the three months to the end of March, narrowing from $183 million a year earlier.
The company previously owned 15,000 towers in Africa, but has been gradually selling them off through deals with tower companies. In March, for example, American Tower agreed to buy 1,350 Airtel towers in Tanzania.
In July 2015, the telco raised US$1.3 billion from the sale of towers in five markets. That announcement came days after Bharti completed the sale of 4,700 towers in Nigeria to American Tower.
By selling off its towers, Airtel is also part of a global trend that has seen mobile operators sell towers in order to reduce debt and enable them to focus more on their core service business.
In April, a study by TowerXchange predicted that independent tower companies would own 48% of European mobile towers by 2020.
