Indosat may plan $500m tower sale

Indonesia's Indosat is rumored to be close to a long-expected sale of some tower assets, in a deal that could be worth $500 million.

 

Three companies – Tower Bersama Infrastructure, Solusi Tunas Pratama and Sarana Menara Nusantara – have expressed an interest in acquiring around 4,000 towers from Indosat, multiple sources told Bloomberg. 

 

In April, Indosat had hinted at a possible sale by stating it was exploring options for its tower business.

 

The company had in May last year also been rumored to be considering divesting its entire tower business, in a deal that could have been worth nearly $2 billion.

 

Indosat makes about 20% of its mobile service revenue from its tower business, in the first half it earned around 198 billion rupiah ($23.16 million) from the unit.

 

But a financial analyst told Bloomberg that Indosat is not currently running the business efficiently, so a sale could be a more attractive option.