London office advises Zain Group on Ooredoo and TASC Towers joint venture to establish US$2.2bn tower company
EMEA | Press release - Business | December 2023
The companies will combine their circa 30,000 telecommunication tower assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Jordan in a cash and share deal.
The new company, which will be the largest tower company in the MENA region, is estimated to turn over US$500m a year and generate EBITDA after leases (EBITDAaL) of more than US$200m once fully operational.
The transaction aims to increase value for both Zain and Ooredoo’s shareholders through a more efficient capital structure. Under the terms of their agreement, Ooredoo and Zain will each control 49.3 percent of the new entity, with the remaining held by the founders of TASC via Digital Infrastructure Assets LLP. TASC will also take on responsibility for managing the operation.
The Norton Rose Fulbright team advising on the agreement was led out of London by Partner Oliver Stacey and Counsel Mark Maurice, and included Associates Juliet Gordon, Maria Zeber and Rahul Medappa.
Oliver said:
“We were delighted to be able to assist our client, Zain Group, with this US$2.2bn joint venture – a landmark deal for the region. The combination of around 30,000 telecommunication tower assets across six countries will make this the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa.”
Norton Rose Fulbright has previously advised Zain Group in respect of Zain Iraq’s entry into a definite 15-year agreement to sell and leaseback the passive physical infrastructure of its 4,968 tower portfolio in Iraq to TASC Towers Iraq for US$180m, and in relation to its sale of 2,830 towers in Jordan to TASC Towers Jordan.
Norton Rose Fulbright has a global digital infrastructure practice and regularly advises clients across the world on a broad range of tower, fibre, data centre and other digital infrastructure transactions.
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