Axiata's subsidiary edotco expands tower business in Pakistan

KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd’s subsidiary edotco Group Sdn Bhd is boosting its telecommunication tower infrastructure operations in Pakistan by buying another industry player for US$90mil (RM385.6mil).

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Axiata said edotco signed an agreement on Tuesday to acquire 100% of Tanzanite Tower Pte Ltd from Tower Share (Pte) Ltd.

The purchase is an important strategic development to edotco’s existing operations in Pakistan and allows edotco to expand its presence in Pakistan with a sizeable portfolio of about 700 towers providing tenancies to all major mobile operators in Pakistan.

Ninety-seven percent of the towers are in the urban areas.

“This opportunity is in line with edotco’s plans to scale up its Pakistan operations and makes it the largest independent tower company in the country,” it said.

The transaction is scheduled to be completed only on receipt of relevant regulatory approvals.  

Axiata said the proposed acquisition was expected to complete in the third quarter of 2017.

Edotco, which is 62.4% owned by Axiata, has a regional portfolio that includes over 25,000 towers across Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar.