Telecom provider Bharti Airtel has entered into an agreement with American Tower Corporation (ATC) to sell around 1,350 towers of its towers to ATC in Tanzania through its subsidiary Airtel Tanzania, the company said in a press statement. The deal is expected to be completed by the first half of 2016 after meeting certain conditions and regulatory approval. Under the agreement, ATC may acquire up to 100 additional sites if needed. Airtel will be the anchor tenant on the portfolio under a lease with a ten-year initial term. The proceeds from the tower sales will allow Airtel to reduce its debt, and significantly reducing the on-going capital expenditure on passive infrastructure, added the company. Airtel’s timeline of tower sales to cut debt in Africa operations: The recent ATC agreement comes as as series of previous tower sales that took place over the past two years as it looked to cut its debt from the loss making continent (Africa). -In September 2015, IHS Holding (IHS) said that it had completed sale and lease-back of 949 towers from Airtel Zambia in Zambia, under the long term renewable contracts which were announced on 15 December last year. -While during December 2014, Airtel said that it is selling 1,100 towers in Zambia and Rwanda to IHS Holding Limited, to reduce debt. -In a similar development in November 2014, Bharti Airtel said that it was planning to sell 4,800 of its communication towers to American Tower Corporation in Nigeria in an effort to cut its debt. -In…
