Bharti Airtel is set to sell its African tower assets for close to $3 billion to clear the firm’s debt and upgdare its networks according to a report by India’s Economic Times.
Set to be done in 7 days, the report says the firm has shortlisted Helios Towers Africa, IHS, American Tower Corp and Eaton Towers as would-be buyers of the firm’s 15,000 towers in Africa.
According to the report, up to $2 billion of the cash from tower sales will be used to clear debt, improve the firm’s network and help up its margins and result in higher profit before tax while the rest will be used for capex. The firm is said to have a debt of around $10.4 billion which has been refinanced by overseas bonds for sometime.The towers sale will help Bharti Airtel to focus on its core telecom business and help them expand their footprint in Africa. Airtel operates in over 17 African countries on the continent.