Cairo – Mubasher: Global Telecom Holding (GTH) and VEON Ltd on Wednesday signed an agreement to sell towers owned by their subsidiary, Jazz Pakistan, for $940 million (PKR 98.7 billion).
Jazz will sell its wholly-owned Deodar Towers to Tanzanite Tower Private Limited, a company owned by Edotco Group and Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited, according to a statement to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).
Deodar Towers have a portfolio of 13,000 wired and wireless communication towers.
After the completion of the deal, GTH will sign a renewable twelve-year master services agreement (MSA) with Jazz, GTH stated.
"This transaction is highly value-accretive for VEON and GTH and a further execution of VEON's asset light strategy,” VEON’s CEO Jean-Yves Charlier said.
He noted that this deal will be cash-based with no debts, and that proceeds from the deal will be used for Jazz's general commercial purposes, repayment of a proportion of its debt, in addition to funding the recently awarded frequency.
Regarding the payment for the deal, $666 million will be padi immediately out of $760 million, which are expected to be received by the deal’s close, and the remaining sum will be paid within twelve months thereafter.
The completion of the transaction is subject to getting all the regulatory approvals, forecast to be obtained before the end of 2017.
GTH’s stake in Jazz is expected to increase to 83% after the deal completion, while VEON owns 57.7% of GTH’s shares, according to the statement.
