Etisalat launches Africa towers sales

Published on 03.02.2012

Etisalat is looking to sell 4,000-5,000 mobile phone towers in Africa to raise US$500-600m so it can increase investment in other operations in Africa, the company said in comments to the Wall Street Journal. Standard Chartered is understood to be mandated to advise on the sale.
The United Arab Emirates’ based telecom operator plans to bid on a number of mobile phone licenses on the continent, according to sources close to the company.
The sale process is expected to be run country by country, starting in Tanzania at the end of Q1. Etisalat operates in eight countries in Africa, each of which has different regulatory regimes, and it has to deal with minority shareholders in each country so sale conditions are likely to be varied.
Meanwhile, Vimplecom is rumoured to have mandated JPMorgan to sell its towers assets in South East Asia.