Bharti Airtel may sell off towers

Bharti Airtel has put the company's Bangladesh tower assets on its divestiture list, says the 'Times of India'. It says the world's fourth largest mobile telephony firm is seeking to raise more than $2 billion by selling its infra networks to bolster cash reserves.
The Sunil Mittal-led Bharti has received offers from potential acquirers to sell its tower networks in Africa and Bangladesh in separate deals, 'Times of India' said, quoting unnamed sources in the company. Bharti's move to sell its 4,000-strong Bangladeshi tower network is a fresh development, while a deal involving its African towers has been a subject of some speculation, says the report. The mobile operator expects at least $200 million from divesting its towers in Airtel Bangladesh, said sources who did not wish to be named since talks are private. Bharti Airtel took full control of its mobile service operations in Bangladesh last year, buying out a 30 per cent stake held by Warid Telecom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Group. The Delhi-headquartered telco has currently about 8.3 million subscribers in Bangladesh, while it boasts of a 66.3-million customer base across 17 African nations, according to a news agency.