OREANDA-NEWS. Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited ("Airtel"), a leading global telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa and Helios Towers Africa ("HTA"), a leading independent telecoms towers company in Africa, today announced an agreement for the divestment of approximately 950 telecoms towers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Airtel to HTA. The divestment also includes towers currently under construction in the DRC. 
Highlights 

·      Airtel to divest approximately 950 towers to HTA  across the DRC;

·      Deal to expand HTA's tower coverage in Africa to over 6,500 owned towers;

·      Deal will help Airtel deleverage  through debt reduction and reduced ongoing capital expenditure;

·      Follows Airtel's and HTA's strategies to drive cost efficiencies throughout the industry, the promotion of passive infrastructure and to mitigate against the proliferation of towers; and

·      Airtel will have full access to the towers from HTA under a long term lease contract 

The agreement will allow Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, while enabling it to deleverage through debt reduction. The deal will significantly reduce Airtel's ongoing capital expenditure on passive infrastructure and also mitigate the proliferation of towers through enhanced sharing.

 HTA is solely focused on providing telecoms infrastructure solutions which help its customers to achieve their goals. These goals typically include: reducing operating cost, improving network uptime, preserving capital, focusing on their core business, and mitigating the proliferation of towers through infrastructure sharing, as they expand network coverage and capacity to meet the growing demand and improve quality of telecom service.

 The agreement is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective countries.

 Commenting on the agreement, Kash Pandya, Chief Executive Officer of Helios Towers Africa, added: 

"HTA is proud to be chosen by Airtel as its partner for the ownership and management of its existing infrastructure. This is a ground-breaking move for HTA, and Airtel's decision is a significant endorsement of HTA's reputation, management team and operating track record." 

Christian De Faria, Executive Chairman, Bharti Airtel International Netherlands BV (BAIN), added:

 "We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with HTA in Africa. The agreement is in line with our stated philosophy of divesting passive infrastructure and promoting sharing of towers to enhance operational efficiencies that will further the growth of telecom services. Airtel remains committed to DRC and will continue to invest in its operations and serve customers with world-class services."

 About Helios Towers Africa 

·      Helios Towers Africa is a leading independent tower company in Africa, having established one of Africa's most extensive tower networks with more than 5,500 towers in four markets. HTA builds and manages telecoms infrastructure, leasing it to operators across the continent 

·      The company pioneered the sale-leaseback model in Africa, buying towers that were held by single operators and leasing them back to the seller and other operators. Allowing wireless operators to outsource non-core tower-related activities enabling them to focus their capital and managerial resources on providing higher quality services more cost-effectively. 

·      Investors in HTA include: Helios Investment Partners, Quantum Strategic Partners, Albright Capital Management LLC, RIT Capital Partners Plc, the International Finance Corporation and Millicom International Cellular 

About Bharti Airtel 

·      Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. 

·      Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. 

·      In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. 

·      In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 357 million customers across its operations at the end of March 2016.