Lebanon’s TASC Towers is reportedly closing in on a deal to acquire around 7,500 mobile towers from Zain Saudi Arabia for around $500M.
The deal could close by the end of the year as long as TASC, which buys and leases towers across Asia and the Middle East, can raise the funds. It is currently holding discussions with various banks to this end.
Zain Saudi Arabia’s CEO Peter Kaliaropoulos confirmed that “Zain remains interested in such a transaction and discussions are still in progress. Negotiations of this nature are complex, protracted and there is no certainty that these will lead to a transaction. There are no material developments to report at this stage.”
In December last year, Zain confirmed that it was holding discussions with TASC and Acwa Holding over a potential acquisition of its towers. In May, Zain Group CEO and vice-chairman Bader Al- Kharafi announced that Zain Saudi Arabia had “recorded its first ever net profit” in Q1 2017, and was expecting the unit’s network upgrades and cost optimisation to start delivering further going forward.
Saudi Arabia’s two largest operators, STC and Mobily, are discussing a merger of their tower operations.
