A consortium led by Actis, a global investor in sustainable infrastructure, says it has acquired the macro tower portfolio of Telekom Srbija a leading operator across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.
The carved-out portfolio is comprised of about 1,800 macro towers (approximately 1,000 in Serbia, 700 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 100 in Montenegro) and, says Actis, is well placed for further commercialisation and expansion.
As part of the transaction, an independent tower company has been established, fully controlled by Actis, which has entered into a long-term master services agreement (MSA) with Telekom Srbija as the tower company’s anchor tenant and partner for future growth.
The agreement contemplates build-to-suit (BTS) commitments to further expand the platform’s reach and to accommodate new telecommunications technologies that will be rolled out in the region.
This is Actis’ eighth investment in the digital infrastructure space, with over US$1 billion currently committed in the sector. It is also intended to be its cornerstone platform investment for towers in a region forecast to expand significantly over the coming years, driven by the increasing consumer demand for mobile data and the rollout of new technologies such as 5G and 6G, as well as changing mobile capacity and coverage requirements.
As this is the first transaction by Actis in the Western Balkans, and the establishment of the first truly independent telecom tower group headquartered in the region, it’s no surprise that Actis calls it a “landmark investment” for digital infrastructure in the area.
However, Actis is a major player in a number of other regions already – and not just in towers. For example, we reported just under a year ago that it had agreed to acquire 11 data centres across six countries in Latin America and the US from Nabiax, a European data centre operator.
