Ooredoo Group CEO Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo said the operator is in the last rounds of negotiations with interested parties for its portfolio of towers, with a deal it expects to be finalised this year, reported Bloomberg.

Fakhroo said in a broadcast interview with the news agency, the long-running process to sell off its 20,000 towers across six countries is “on schedule”. It saw 50 bids and the company is now in the “final rounds of negotiations” with the expectation to announce the transaction in the first half of 2023.

Ooredoo announced plans to spin-off its towers last year after reports circulated on the plan, with a range of players and funds rumoured to be interested.

Operators globally have been shipping off their passive assets to raise cash for book balancing and fund expansion in other parts of their operations.