Telecommunications tower company Eaton Towers said it had attracted $350-million in funding from existing and new shareholders to support its expansion and acquisition plan in Africa.
Eaton CEO Terry Rhodes said additional equity had been sourced from controlling shareholder Capital Group Private Markets, as well as other existing shareholders, such as private equity fund DPI and Eaton management.
New shareholders included an Ethos Private Equity-led consortium and Standard Chartered Private Equity.
“We are very pleased that our existing and new shareholders support our strategy and vision to create a market-leading, independent, Pan-African tower company,” he said.
Meanwhile, Eaton secured its first independent tower deal with Orange Group subsidiary Mobinil, in Egypt, for the purchase, 15-year leaseback and management, operation and maintenance of over 2 000 of the mobile operator’s towers.
The deal would also see Eaton build additional sites.
Eaton planned to inject over $200-million into what it believed was Africa’s second-largest mobile market to deploy shared infrastructure and enable Egypt-based operators to provide better coverage and data services to their customers.
“Once the Mobinil deal – and the agreements with Bharti Airtel for six countries signed and announced last September – are completed, Eaton Towers will be operational in eight countries, representing the most diversified portfolio of shared infrastructure on the African continent,” Rhodes concluded.