Axiata’s tower arm edotco weighs RM2.7b stake sale, sources say

(Sept 8): edotco Group Sdn Bhd, the wireless tower business of Malaysian telecommunications group Axiata Group Bhd, is considering a share sale that could raise as much as US$600 million (RM2.7 billion), according to people familiar with the matter, as it seeks to turbocharge its growth.

The Kuala Lumpur-based company is working with an adviser on the deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Existing shareholders including Axiata could also tag along and sell down their stakes in the privately held tower unit, which could boost the total transaction size to as much as US$1 billion, the people said.

The potential share sale could attract interest from other companies in the industry and investment firms as appetite for digital infrastructure assets in Asia increases, the people said.

Considerations are preliminary, no final decisions have been made and the company could still decide against pursuing a deal, the people said. Representatives for Axiata and edotco declined to comment.

Founded in 2012, edotco operates and manages a portfolio of more than 54,000 towers across nine Asian nations including Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan and Myanmar, according to a recent press release. Axiata is the controlling shareholder of edotco, while other minority holders include Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Innovation Network Corp of Japan.

The company’s services range from tower leasing to colocation to operations and maintenance. It has expanded both organically and via mergers and acquisitions, including the purchase in April of almost 3,000 towers in the Philippines from PLDT Inc.

Axiata postponed talks to sell a partial stake in edotco last year, after a military coup in Myanmar triggered concerns over heightened investment risks, Bloomberg News has reported. Some companies have exited their investments in the country to protest against the junta’s violence against civilians.