Saudi operator Zain KSA announced the completion of the sale of its tower assets to the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for $803.5 million, in a move the company said will help reduce its debt, according to Zawya. To date, the company has offloaded 3,000 of the 8,089 tower assets it sold, with the remaining towers to be “transferred in batches in a period not exceeding 18 months.”
The initial agreement for the deal was made in 2022, with a PIF-backed consortium called Golden Lattice Investment Company. In compensation for the tower assets, Zain KSA received $640 million and a 20 percent stake in the investment company, of which 60 percent is held by PIF as shareholders, ten percent by Saudi Prince Saudi bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, and ten percent by the Sultan Holding Company.
“The reasons [for the transaction] are to maximize the benefit for its shareholders through reducing the company’s dependence on capital expenditures,” said Zain in its filing. The deal will also “separate the ownership, operation and maintenance of the towers, which will lead to strengthening the financial position of Zain KSA, focusing on investing in adjacent markets and creating value to Zain’s customers,” the stock exchange filing read.
Zain expects to generate a net profit of $290 million from the sale according to Zawya.
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