KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd
’s infrastructure arm, edotco Group Sdn Bhd is buying 13,000 towers assets in Pakistan for US$940mil (RM4.01bil), according to president and group CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim.
The acquisition would place edotco at 8th largest independent tower company in the world from 11th position.
Jamaludin, however, said on Wednesdsay there were no firm plans for an initial public offer foredotco.
“The proposed deal follows edotco’s recent successful acquisition of Tanzanite Tower Private Limited (TTPL) and its 700 towers. This reflects edotco’s continued expansion strategy as well as its investment commitment to Pakistan as a key growth market and confidence in the prospects of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure market,” edotco said in a statement.
edotco, through Tanzanite, has incorporated as a subsidiary of edotco Pakistan Private Ltd (edotco PK), has entered into an agreement with PMCL to acquire its tower subsidiary, Deodar Private Limited (Deodar) and its portfolio of over 13,000 tower assets.
As part of the transaction, DH Corp will be investing a 45% equity stake in edotco PK with the remaining 55% control stake to be held by edotco.
“The total transaction consideration for the proposed acquisition is US$940mil, which will be funded through a combination of external local debt of US$600mil and an equity split of US$174mil by edotco and US$166mil by DH Corp for their respective stakes,” edotco said.
Jamaludin said as the majority shareholder of edotco, Axiata strongly supports the proposed transaction which would further elevate its position as a leading independent tower company globally and bring strong financial accretion to the company.
“It will also help create a more balanced portfolio for edotco in having three operations of significant size and nature which are Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“I am very pleased with edotco’s growth in performance and footprint to date. This further drives our determination and focus towards making edotco a world-class business through operational efficiencies and scale,” he said.
Subject to the customary and regulatory conditions precedent being fulfilled, the acquisition is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
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