edotco to buy Pakistani tower firm for $90m

Malaysia's edotco Group, which runs businesses in South and Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh, yesterday said it would buy a tower company in Pakistan for $90 million to expand operations in the country.

The acquisition of Tanzanite Tower Private Ltd will give edotco Group 700 towers, enabling it to provide service to all major mobile operators in Pakistan.

This is an important strategic development for edotco's existing operations in Pakistan and allows the company to expand its footprint in the country, according to a statement of Robi, a shareholder of edotco Bangladesh.

“This opportunity is in line with edotco's plans to scale up its Pakistan operations and makes it the largest independent tower company in the country.”

The deal is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year, Japan's Nikkei Asian Review quoted Axiata Group as saying. Axiata owns the majority of Robi's shares. 

Robi said the purchase puts edotco in a strong position to accelerate its tower business and take advantage of further acquisition and consolidation opportunities.

“The acquisition supports edotco's growth strategy and ambition to position itself as the leading independent telecommunications infrastructure services provider across Asia,” said Suresh Sidhu, chief executive officer of edotco Group.

“It also demonstrates our continued confidence in the Pakistan market and long-term commitment to support the development and enhancement of the country's telecommunications infrastructure.”

Established in 2012, edotco Group is the first regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia, providing end-to-end solutions in the tower services sector.

It operates and manages over 25,000 towers in Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The company recently bought a 75 percent stake in a Myanmar tower company for $125 million before raising its stake further to 87.5 percent, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.