Edotco to acquire Jazz-owned Pakistan tower business ‘Deodar’

ISLAMABAD: edotco Group Sdn Bhd (“edotco”), in its biggest expansion to date, together with Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (“DH Corp”), a leading listed investment conglomerate in Pakistan announced the acquisition of approximately 13,000 towers from Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (Jazz).

edotco, through Tanzanite Tower Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of edotco Pakistan Private Limited (“edotco PK”), entered into an agreement with PMCL to acquire its tower subsidiary, Deodar Private Limited (“Deodar”) and its portfolio of over 13,000 tower assets.

As part of the transaction, DH Corp will be investing a 45% equity stake with the remaining 55% control stake to be held by edotco. The total transaction consideration for the proposed acquisition is USD 940 million, which will be funded through a combination of debt and equity.

Suresh Sidhu, CEO of edotco said, "edotco is delighted to expand its business in Pakistan by catering to the network requirements of Jazz, the country's number one digital communications company.

With Dawood Hercules as our partner, we are confident in the potential of the market in Pakistan and will continue to demonstrate our long-term commitment to supporting the development and enhancement of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.”

Inam ur Rahman, CEO of DH Corp, said: “DH Corp has always invested in projects and businesses that directly contribute to Pakistan’s growth and prosperity. Continuing our commitment to the future, we are excited to partner with edotco Group Malaysia and bring their wealth of knowledge to the local telecommunications sector. We are confident this enterprise will serve as a beacon for more investment in Pakistan and in our people.”

Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz commented, "This transaction with Tanzanite Tower will allow Jazz to further improve its core strength in providing best in class products and services to its customers. Partnering with a trusted partner like Tanzanite Tower will ensure that Jazz’ customers will continue to benefit from industry leading network quality. It also allows Jazz to focus on its journey to becoming an innovative digital lifestyle partner.”

At completion of the sale, Deodar will enter into a master services agreement (MSA) with Jazz, whereby it will continue to provide tower services to Jazz. The initial term of this MSA is twelve years and is renewable at Jazz’s discretion for three consecutive periods of five years each.

As a result of the terms of the Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited (Jazz)/Warid earn-out agreement, following the completion of the transaction, GTH's stake in Jazz will be approximately 83%.

About Jazz

With over 52 million customers, Jazz is Pakistan's Number 1 digital telecommunications services provider.

About edotco Group

Established in 2012, edotco is the first regional and integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia, providing end-to-end solutions in the tower services sector from tower leasing, co-locations, build-to-suit, energy, transmission and operations and maintenance (O&M). (Owned by Axiata)

edotco operates and manages a regional portfolio of over 26,000 towers across core markets of Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with over 18,400 towers directly operated by edotco and a further 8,100 towers managed through a range of services provided.

About Dh Corp

Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DH Corp) is an investment holding company founded on family values. It is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of approximately USD600 million. DH Corp’s vision is to make food, energy and infrastructure available, affordable and sustainable for the developing world via pairing capital with capability and with ideas that will have the biggest impact.