Independent tower company Helios Towers Africa (HTA) on Wednesday said its Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) subsidiary Helios Towers DRC (HTD) had successfully completed a $105-million upsizing of its syndicated term-loan facility to partly finance acquisitions and fund portfolio expansion and growth.
The financing package, secured through initial mandated lead arranger Standard Bank of South Africa and German development finance institution Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, or DEG, would fund the acquisition of Bharti Airtel’s tower portfolio and expand tower-sharing solutions.
HTD has been commercialising ex-Tigo towers and building out further towers and would now add 950 towers to its portfolio of some 1 800 as a result of the Bharti Airtel tower transaction.
“This is a significant step for HTA as it allows us to expand our DRC footprint and strengthen our network coverage for all of our customers,” said HTA CEO Kash Pandya, adding that the funds would also be used to invest in power technologies to reduce reliance on diesel fuel.
“Standard Bank is delighted to continue to support the HTA vision, following the closing of the $95-million equivalent financing for Helios Towers Tanzania earlier this year, this time with a new debt facility for HTD,” concluded Standard Bank global head of telecoms and media Nina Triantis.