UPDATE Millicom (NASDAQ: TIGO) is transferring its towers to Lati, the company’s new tower and infrastructure company. Operating as Tigo, Millicom provides wireline and wireless telecommunications services in emerging markets in Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama) and in South America (Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay). Millicom first announced plans to carve out a tower company back in February 2022, Inside Towers reported.
Millicom says its tower portfolio consists of more than 9,000 sites in seven countries and claims that it is among the top 10 largest tower portfolios in Latin America. Lati has a long-term contract and build-to-suit growth opportunities with Tigo. In its 3Q23 earnings call last week, Millicom confirmed it began transferring tower assets to Lati in October and expects to launch a monetization process in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Tigo is the leading mobile network operator in these markets, according to Inside Towers Intelligence, and will remain as Lati’s anchor tenant. With a current low tenancy ratio of 1.1x across its tower portfolio, Lati can maximize its towers’ revenue potential by attracting other non-affiliated wireless service providers to its facilities.
Millicom said it hopes to attract growth capital to Lati from new investors, while suggesting a potential majority sale in the future.
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