Bharti Airtel sells 4,800 towers in Nigeria to American Tower Corp

Bharti Airtel has entered into a definitive agreement to sell off its over 4,800 communications towers in Nigeria to Boston-based American Tower Corp for an undisclosed sum.

Bharti Airtel will be the anchor tenant on these towers after the sales, under a lease with a 10-year initial term. The agreement was signed through Bharti Airtel's subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV (Airtel), the companies said in a statement.

''We are pleased to announce the launch of our operations in Nigeria while expanding our relationship with Airtel, one of the leading multinational operators in the world,'' said Jim Taiclet, chairman, president and CEO of American Tower.

''With the largest population and economy in Africa and relatively underdeveloped wireless infrastructure, we view Nigeria as a tremendous growth opportunity. Further, we expect this investment to support our long-term objective of generating double-digit AFFO per share growth for our stockholders,'' Taiclet added.

The agreement will allow Bharti Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, enable it to deleverage through debt reduction and will significantly reduce its on-going capital expenditures on passive infrastructure in Nigeria. For Airtel, which is India's largest mobile operator by subscribers and world's fourth largest operator, this would also help in reducing is debt.

The companies expect to close the acquisition during the first half of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

''Nigeria is the largest mobile market in Africa and a key one for Airtel," said Christian de Faria, MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel Africa. "This agreement, which is part of our stated philosophy of promoting infrastructure sharing, will provide us with considerable cost efficiencies and at the same time allows us to sharpen our focus on the customer. American Tower has a proven track record in passive infrastructure management and we look forward to benefitting from the best practices from all other countries it operates in."