Veon close to sale of Pakistan tower assets
According to Bloomberg, Veon Limited, a Dutch-based operator of telecommunications networks, is almost ready to sell its tower assets in Pakistan to a group made up of the local firm TPL Corporation and the UAE-based TASC Towers Holding Ltd.
In the upcoming weeks, negotiations on the sale of Veon’s 10,000–12,000 Pakistani towers may be disclosed; the transaction could be worth more than $600 million.
It has been reported that the TPL-TASC combination, which prevailed over other bidders, including telecom corporations, as the most likely acquirer, has emerged.
It would be Pakistan’s largest transaction since 2011 if the towers were sold. The corporations are still debating, and they could still decide against a merger. Without mentioning a specific bidder, Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu stated in an interview last month that the divestment was “very close to completion”.
A division of the Saudi Telecom Co. and the Pakistani company Engro were reportedly also interested in the properties.
Buyer Profile
In order to submit a bid for an undisclosed telecom tower company, Pakistan’s TPL declared in September that it had joined forces with TASC in a strategic collaboration.
GPS tracking, insurance, venture financing, and security services are all offered by TPL. In 2016, TPL Properties Ltd., the company’s real estate division, raised $3 million through an IPO in Karachi that raised about $697 million rupees. One of the largest fundraising efforts in the history of the country is being attempted by TPL REIT Management Co., which is looking to raise up to $500 million through a private real estate investment trust.
Veon close to sale of Pakistan tower assets
In 1992, Veon was founded in Moscow as VimpelCom, one of the country’s first mobile phone service providers. Since then, it has expanded into a telecom powerhouse with Dutch headquarters and more than 217 million consumers in nine nations. It is the biggest telecom provider in Pakistan.
Veon sold Service-Telecom LLC more than 15,000 towers in Russia last year for almost $970 million. Terzioglu told Bloomberg News in August that the firm is in talks with potential purchasers in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine and that it has about 30,000 more towers to offer.
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