The Public Investment Fund is considering merging the mobile phone infrastructure of the Saudi Telecom Company STC and Zain Saudi Arabia, to be the largest cell tower company in Saudi Arabia.
According to Arabiya Net, Bloomberg said that if the deal is completed, it will create a company with 23,000 towers, and it is likely that the Saudi Public Investment Fund will list it on the stock exchange. And that the merger will reduce overlap in the places where both companies own towers, making the investment in raising the level of coverage and mobile Internet speeds more efficient.
Talks are still at an early stage and the Public Investment Fund may cancel the deal. While the agency did not receive a comment from the fund or from the two telecommunications companies.
Telecom operators globally are seeking to derive more value from their tower portfolios, capitalizing on investors' growing appetite for such assets, as MTN Group is in talks with American Towers and IHS Holdings Ltd.
STC, in which the Public Investment Fund holds a majority stake, built more than 15,000 towers in a new subsidiary called TAWAL in 2019, and its capital 2.5 billion riyals ($670 million). Meanwhile, Zain Saudi Arabia agreed to offers from investors, including the Public Investment Fund, to buy 80% of its towers unit, with an estimated business value of $807 million.
With assets estimated at $450 billion, the Public Investment Fund is playing a more active role in the local economy by directing investment, driving mergers in sectors such as banks and listing state assets. .
