Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is among suitors weighing a final bid for network towers being sold by Qatari telecom firm Ooredoo QPSC, people familiar with the matter said. Ooredoo shares jumped in Doha trading.
(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is among suitors weighing a final bid for network towers being sold by Qatari telecom firm Ooredoo QPSC, people familiar with the matter said. Ooredoo shares jumped in Doha trading.
American Tower Corp., IHS Holding Ltd. and Helios Towers Plc are also considering binding offers for all or part of the portfolio, according to people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is private. Ooredoo’s tower assets, which span the Persian Gulf region, as well as countries including Algeria, could be valued at $3 billion to $5 billion in any deal, they said.
Bids are due in the coming days, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing and there’s no certainty any of the suitors will decide to submit offers.
The bid by the PIF, as the Saudi wealth fund is known, is the latest sign that the kingdom is moving on from a diplomatic spat with Qatar that began in 2017 and wasn’t resolved until 2021. PIF is also considering an investment in Qatari broadcaster BeIn Media Group, Bloomberg reported last month. As a result of the spat, Saudi Arabia, along with countries including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, had blocked trade and travel links with Qatar.
Ooredoo said in September that it will carve out its portfolio of almost 20,000 towers as part of a shift to an asset-light model. The state-owned telecom operator recently sold its Myanmar business for an enterprise value of $576 million and is also considering carving out its data center unit to attract new investors into the business.
A spokesperson for Ooredoo said the company planned to announce the carveout of its towers business in 2023, declining to comment further. Representatives for Helios, IHS and PIF declined to comment, while a spokesperson for American Tower didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shares of Ooredoo climbed as much as 6.9%, the most in more than five years, valuing the telecom operator at about $9 billion.
Tower Demand
PIF plans to invest $24 billion in Middle Eastern and North African countries as oil-rich Saudi Arabia seeks to bolster regional economies, it said in October, and will channel funds into sectors including infrastructure, heath care and telecoms.
Last month, the wealth fund offered to buy a majority stake in Tawal, the telecom towers unit of phone company Saudi Telecom Co., as part of its plan to create a cellular tower behemoth. PIF plans to bid for the Ooredoo assets through Tawal, the people said.
Deals for network towers are helping dealmakers defy a broader slowdown in global mergers and acquisitions activity this year. Telecom operators are shifting the assets to help raise funds for fiber-optic rollouts and wireless upgrades, and are finding willing buyers in the form of investment firms seeking predictable returns in volatile markets.
In Europe, KKR & Co. is leading the race for a stake in Vodafone Group Plc’s towers unit, while fellow private equity firm EQT AB is seen as the frontrunner to acquire a slice of French tower owner TDF.
–With assistance from Scott Moritz and Matthew Martin.
(Adds details of Saudi-Qatar diplomatic dispute in fourth paragraph)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
