Telkom SA SOC Ltd. is in advanced talks to sell its tower assets to a private equity firm.
“Shareholders are hereby advised that Telkom is currently in exclusive negotiations with a preferred bidder in respect of the potential disposal of Swiftnet,” the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. “The preferred bidder is a consortium of equity investors, including a black economic empowerment partner, led and managed by a reputable private equity firm.”
A deal — if concluded — would be subject to South African regulatory and shareholder approval, it said. There are no guarantees that the negotiations would lead to a transaction, Telkom said.
Swiftnet was estimated to be worth about 8.7 billion rand ($475 million) based on future expected cash flows, according to a previous note from Nedbank Group Ltd.
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Mobile-phone companies have increasingly sought to spin off towers to focus on their core business, with Vodafone Group Plc’s African unit Vodacom separating its portfolio into a new unit and MTN Group Ltd. concluding a sales-and-lease back tower deal with IHS Holdings Ltd. in 2021.
Telkom, South Africa’s third-largest operator, previously abandoned a plan to list Swiftnet.
