Bharti Airtel jumps 2% on Africa tower biz sale buzz

Shares of Bharti Airtel jumped over 2 percent intraday on Wednesday on reports that it is going to split its Africa tower business sale. According to CNBC-TV18 sources, the country’s largest telecom company is likely to split its Africa tower business sale on a country-by-country basis.

It is looking at a valuation of roughly USD 1.8 billion for the Africa tower business, and first on the list, will be the Nigeria towers (around 5000 towers). The valuation of the Nigeria towers is pegged at around USD 500-550 million. The proceeds from the sale will be used to pare off Bharti's huge Rs 60,000 crore debt. The market had been anticipating this sale for quite some time. Bharti was not getting the right valuation for its towers.

There are two players who are already in advance talks with Bharti for Nigeria tower business. Helios Towers, likely to be backed by Provident Equity Partners, is looking at getting around USD 200 million from Provident. The second company is Nigeria-based IHS. It is backed by Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers.

The company is looking at to finish the Nigeria business sale by March 2014. Meanwhile, responding to a CNBC-TV18 query, Bharti Airtel said: “As per policy, cannot comment on market speculation."