Bharti Airtel through its subsidiary, Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, has signed an agreement with Helios Towers Africa (HTA), the leading independent telecom towers company in Africa, for the divestment of telecom towers from Airtel to HTA. The agreement is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective countries.
As per the agreement, Bharti Airtel will divest around 3,100 towers to HTA in four countries across its African operations, which will expand HTA’s tower coverage in Africa to over 7,800 owned towers. The deal will help Airtel deleverage through debt reduction and reduced ongoing capital expenditure.
Besides, Bharti Airtel will have full access to the towers from HTA under a long term lease contract and the agreement also envisages that tower operations-related personnel will be transferred from Airtel to HTA.
