Edotco, the tower arm of Malaysia-headquartered Axiata, announced it will partner with Dawood Hercules to acquire the tower assets of Pakistan Mobile Communications for $940 million.

The company, through Edotco Pakistan subsidiary Tanzanite, entered into an agreement with Pakistan Mobile Communications to acquire its tower subsidiary Deodar and its portfolio of more than 13,000 towers. Edotco said the transaction will be funded through a combination of $600 million in external local debt and an equity split of $174 million by Edotco and $166 million Dawood Hercules for their respective stakes.

Dawood Hercules, a listed investment company in Pakistan, will invest in a 45 per cent equity stake in Edotco Pakistan, with the remaining 55 per cent interest to be held by Edotco.

Edotco recently acquired 700 towers in Pakistan from Tanzanite Tower, adding to its portfolio of more than 26,000 towers in six countries.

Increased scale
The planned acquisition, the company’s largest to date, would make Edotco the eighth largest independent tower company and the second largest multi-country tower operator globally, it said.

Edotco CEO Suresh Sidhu (pictured) said: “We are pleased to be able to consolidate our expansion into Pakistan with this acquisition. The acquisition of Deodar is a critical part of our growth strategy and ambition to position Edotco as the leading independent telecommunications infrastructure services provider in Asia.”

Pakistan Mobile Communications, which operates under the Jazz brand, is the country’s largest mobile operator, with a 37 per cent market share and 53 million mobile connections according to GSMA Intelligence.