Kuwait telecom firm Zain Group, Qatar’s Ooredoo and the UAE’s TASC Towers Holding said Tuesday they had agreed to combine their tower assets into a $2.2 billion entity in a cash-and-share deal.
In July, the three companies announced they were in talks to create the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa, combining around 30,000 tower assets in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan Kuwait, Qatar and Tunisia.
Ooredoo and Zain will retain a 49.3% stake each in the new company, which has not been named, through an asset and cash equalization process, a statement from the businesses said. The founders of Dubai-based TASC will retain the remaining shareholding of the new entity, through Digital Infrastructure Assets LLP, and will continue to manage the operations of the business.
The new company is expected to raise around $500 million in revenues annually, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization after leases expecting to be north of $200 million per year.
