A Boston-based company, American Tower, has acquired pan-African Tower company, Eaton Towers for $1.85 billion.
Eaton Towers, founded by Terry Rhodes in 2009, owns 5,500 towers in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Niger, which it leases back to carriers including Orange, Tigo, Vodacom and MTN.
Eaton Towers co-founder and CEO, Terry Rhodes, commented:
“To grow from an idea of a few people ten years ago to become a leader in African shared telecoms infrastructure with approximate annual revenue and EBITDA of $250m and $150 million respectively and bottom-line profitability is a unique achievement. We will work closely with ATC to ensure customers throughout our markets continue to receive outstanding levels of service. I would personally like to congratulate all 200 of our people and am very pleased that our shareholders have agreed to share the success with all our staff.”
Christian Skaanild, Director representing Capital Group Private Markets, the majority shareholder, commented:
“We are proud of what has been achieved since we made our first investment in Eaton Towers in 2011, when the African telecom towers industry was at a very nascent stage. Since then our investment has contributed to improved coverage and capacity delivering voice and data access for consumers. I would like to acknowledge the achievement of all the management and employees of Eaton Towers, as well as, the support of our co-investors and the Board of Directors.”
The other institutional shareholders include founding investor Development Partners International as well as Ethos Private Equity of South Africa and Standard Chartered Private Equity.
Both companies have sites in countries such as Ghana and Kenya, and the deal will enable American Tower to build more on the continent. The tie-up will generate about $260 million in property revenue in the first year of ownership.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2019, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
This is American Tower’s second acquisition in Africa within the last 12 months, after it agreed to buy more than 700 towers from Telkom Kenya. American Tower has about 170,000 sites in 17 countries worldwide.
Rivals in the African business include Helios Towers and IHS Towers.
