Three major telecom service providers in the Gulf region are in talks to merge their tower assets to create the largest telecommunication tower company in the Middle East and North Africa.
Ooredoo of Qatar, Zain Group of Kuwait, and Dubai-based TASC Towers Holding are in exclusive discussions to combine their approximately 30,000 telecom towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan.
The potential deal would involve integrating the tower assets into a jointly owned independent tower company through a mix of cash and share transactions. Ooredoo's towers in Oman would follow a separate process.
The merger aims to provide shareholder value by creating a more efficient capital structure for Ooredoo and Zain. Ooredoo had previously signaled plans to carve out 20,000 of its towers without sharing details.
The telecom giants aim to sign definitive agreements this quarter.
Gulf telecom providers have been divesting tower assets to reduce costs and focus on ICT, attracting specialized tower operators to new markets. Recently, Zain KSA sold 8,069 towers for $800 million and Zain Kuwait sold 1,620 towers for $130 million. Saudi telecom giant stc spun off over 15,000 towers into a subsidiary. Omantel also sold 2,890 towers for $575 million.
In summary, the potential merger aims to create the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa by combining the tower assets of three major Gulf telecom providers.
