Bharti Airtel has completed the sale of a portfolio of telecoms towers in Zambia to infrastructure firm IHS Holding.
The transaction will enable the mobile operator to cut costs, while adding sites to IHS’s footprint.
Under the terms of the deal, IHS takes ownership of 949 mobile towers in the country and will lease them back to Airtel Zambia via long-term, renewable contracts.
The companies did not disclose the value of the arrangement.
"The initiative in Zambia will help us deliver a reliable high quality network run by passive infrastructure experts, whilst reducing our capex requirements and operating costs," said Christian de Faria, Bharti Airtel’s Africa CEO, in a statement.
As has become the norm with towers sale-and-leaseback deals, he added that the move will enable Airtel to foc us on serving its customers, which in Zambia means the provision of affordable mobile services.
"We have been working with Airtel for many years and are delighted to continue expanding our East Africa business," added IHS group CEO Issam Darwish.
"Our partnership is designed to further promote network sharing, and deliver higher quality and reliable mobile services," he said.
The deal, Bharti’s first with IHS, was announced in December last year. At the time the firms said IHS would acquire 1,100 towers across Zambia and Rwanda.
According to Airtel Rwanda, the companies closed the deal, including the transfer of "over 210 towers" in February.
