Following its failed deal with Telenor ASA last year, Malaysia-based Axiata Group is now among three shortlisted to bid for a stake in Myanmar telecoms tower company Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT) Limited.
According to media reports, Guodong Group of China, and global private equity firm CVC Capital Partners were also shortlisted. Its been said that the IGT stake sale process has been in the works since the middle of 2019.
Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT) Limited is 99.99% owned by Singapore-based holding company Irrawaddy Tower Asset Holdings (ITAH), which is backed by Dubai-based Blu Stone Management, private equity firm Alcazar Capital, Lebanon-based investment firm M1 Group, Dutch development bank FMO, International Finance Corporation, among others.
Established in 2014, Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT) is the largest independent tower company in Myanmar with over 3,000 telecommunications towers. Its customers include Norway’s Telenor, Qatar’s Ooredoo, domestic mobile company MPT, MyTel (Telecom International Myanmar Company), Sumitomo Corp and KDDI according to its website. The telecoms tower company have rolled out more than 100,000 telecommunications towers in Asia, Middle East, Africa and America.
Reports suggest that Irrawaddy Green Towers (IGT) could be valued at around US$800 million and a preferred bidder is expected to be announced in July.
No official announcement have been made yet.
Edotco Group, a subsidiary of Axiata Group, first entered Myanmar following the acquisition of a 75% stake in Myanmar Tower Company (MTC) in October 2015. MTC is believed to own and manage a over 3,000 telecom towers in Myanmar. Apart from Myanmar, the Axiata Group also have presence in Malaysia (Celcom & Tune Talk), Indonesia (XL Axiata), Sri Lanka (Dialog), Cambodia (SMART), Nepal (NCELL) and Robi (Bangladesh).
The other telecom tower company in Myanmar are said to be Apollo Towers, which was founded by global private equity TPG Capital and Africa-based Eaton Towers.
