Axiata Group, Malaysia's largest mobile telecom company by revenue, said Tuesday its infrastructure unit plans to acquire a Pakistani tower firm for $90 million to expand its operations in the South Asian nation.
The acquisition of Tanzanite Tower Private Limited will give edotco Group about 700 towers, providing service to all major mobile operators in Pakistan, Axiata Group said in an exchange filing. The deal is expected to be completed by third quarter this year, the company said.
"This opportunity is in line with edotco's plans to scale up its Pakistan operations," Axiata said. "This puts edotco in a strong position to accelerate its tower build out and take advantage of further acquisition and consolidation opportunities."
Axiata, which has more than 320 million subscribers in 10 countries in Asia, has been bulking up edotco's operations following the entry of three new investors in the tower unit. Since last year, Axiata sold about a third of its stake in edotco through a share placement deal to raise $700 million. Still Axiata remains the largest shareholder in edotco Group with a 62.4% stake, while the new shareholders collectively hold 37.6%. The company said it wants to retain a controlling stake in edotco Group.
edotco Group currently manages more than 25,000 towers across Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The company most recently bought a 75% stake in a Myanmar tower company for $125 million before raising its stake further to 87.5%.
The latest deal, which values Tanzanite Tower at an enterprise value of $90 million, would make edotco Group the largest independent tower company in Pakistan.
"This acquisition supports edotco's growth strategy and ambition to position itself as the leading independent telecommunications infrastructure services provider across Asia," said Suresh Sidhu, chief executive of edotco Group.
Shares of Axiata Group ended nearly 1.0% lower at 5.02 ringgit apiece, while the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI closed down 0.5%.