Airtel Africa announced earlier today that it had closed a transaction to sell its telecommunication tower company in Malawi to Helios Towers for $54.7 million in consideration.
Helios Towers had informed its stakeholders about the impending transaction earlier in February. The company also stated that it expects to complete the acquisition of Airtel’s other tower assets in Gabon by the second half of 2022.
The most recent asset sale in Malawi demonstrates Airtel Africa’s determination to divest nearly all of its passive tower assets across Africa.
In January 2022, Airtel Africa disclosed that it was in the process of selling its Tanzanian tower assets to a joint venture (JV) led by SBA Communications Corporation and Paradigm Infrastructure Limited. This was for a total consideration of $176.1 million.
Furthermore, the telco announced in November that it had sold its Madagascar telecommunications tower company to Helios Towers Plc for $51.7 million.
According to Business Insider Africa, the company intends to use a portion of the proceeds from these asset sales to upgrade its network infrastructure in some of its key markets, as well as to offset some of its group debts.
Airtel Africa operates in 14 African countries and is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), where its stock closed trading today at $3 per share (N1,260).
