Qatar’s Ooredoo Plans to Carve Out Telecom Tower Unit This Year

Simone Foxman and Yousef Gamal El-Din, Bloomberg News

A 5G-enabled self-driving aerial taxi vehicle is displayed on the Ooredoo Q.S.C. stand on the opening day of the MWC Barcelona in Barcelona. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) --

Qatari telecom operator Ooredoo QPSC expects to carve out its portfolio of tower networks this year, in a transaction that has reportedly drawn interest from suitors including Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund and American Tower Corp.

The firm received interest from over 50 regional and international bidders and is currently in the final round of talks, Chief Executive Officer Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo told Bloomberg TV in an interview. “We’re hoping to announce something before the end of the first half of this year.”

Ooredoo said in September it will carve out its portfolio of almost 20,000 towers as part of a shift to an asset-light model. The state-controlled operator last year sold its Myanmar business for an enterprise value of $576 million and is also considering carving out its data center unit.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, American Tower, IHS Holding Ltd. and Helios Towers Plc were among suitors weighing a bid for the tower assets, which could be valued at $3 billion to $5 billion, Bloomberg reported in November.

Investments & Debt

Ooredoo is committed to investing up to $1 billion in its data centers over the next five years to grow its capacity, Fakhroo said. “We’re bringing in investors to help us accelerate this catalyst of growth.”

Data centers typically attract strong interest from investors as they are seen to generate stable returns and growth amid increasing reliance on technology. Unlike the potential towers sale, Ooredoo plans to invest in the data centers by potentially bringing in external investors, Bloomberg reported in October.

The phone operator on Tuesday repaid close to $1 billion of bonds and $500 million of a revolving credit facility, the largest debt repayment in its history, Fakhroo said. “We have no major debt maturity until 2025, so we think we are extremely well-positioned to weather any future rate hikes.”

--With assistance from Dana Khraiche.