Brac to acquire 26pc of edotco

Brac is set to acquire 26 percent shares of edotco Bangladesh, the telecom infrastructure service provider, as part of the development organisation's efforts to find new business opportunities.

“We are seeing the investment in the telecom sector as an investment into Bangladesh's future,” said Tushar Bhowmik, finance and accounts director of Brac, adding that connectivity is an essential driving force behind Bangladesh's imminent transition to a developing nation.

Enhanced telecom infrastructure services and solutions ensure better connectivity for communities and businesses, help drive the country's engines of growth and will also be able to provide better services in hard-to-reach areas.

“Better connectivity and access to telecommunication also make societies more inclusive, strongly supporting the sustainable development goal of leaving no one behind,” he added. The process is now in the final stage, and the telecom regulator has already been informed last week of the development.

Earlier in May, edotco Bangladesh had announced that it was offloading 30 percent of its shares to Greencon Tower, a subsidiary of local firm Getco.

In making the announcement, edotco Bangladesh had made itself eligible for a tower-sharing licence. As per the guidelines no foreign entity can hold more than 70 percent stakes and the holdings of Axiata Group, the parent company of edotco, then easily exceeded the threshold.

But, the transaction was never completed.

In the first week of November, edotco Bangladesh was awarded the licence for tower business along with three other companies. And as per the guideline, the restructuring of the shareholding would have to be completed within one month of being awarded the licence.

edotco Bangladesh is still offloading 30 percent of its shares but Brac would be acquiring 26 percent stakes and Greencon Tower 4 percent.

None of the three companies disclosed the value of the new shareholding structure.

However, a source at edotco said Brac would be paying more than $150 million for the stakes.

“When Robi held 19.99 percent shares in the company edotco had paid Robi about $120 million for them. This time, the valuation is much higher,” he added.

edotco Bangladesh currently owns 8,200 telecom towers, manages about 1,500 more of other operators.