Airtel has entered into an agreement with American Towers Corporation for the sale of over 4,800 of its communication towers in Nigeria to the American company.
This will be American Tower’s first move in Nigeria but not its first in Africa as it already has stake in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. Airtel will be gaining about $1 billion from the sales of the towers which it will then lease for an initial period of 10 years. This agreement will help Airtel focus on its customers and its core services while ATC handles the maintenance and the technical aspects of the cell towers. It will also enable Airtel to deleverage through debt reduction and will significantly reduce its on-going capital expenditures on passive infrastructure in Nigeria.
In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S., American Tower said the total consideration for the deal is expected to be $1.05 billion.
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