Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia is poised to house one of the largest telecom tower companies in the world as the Public Investment Fund (PIF) forged a partnership with the Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC Group).
The PIF and STC signed a definitive agreement whereby the fund will acquire a 51% stake in STC Group’s Telecommunication Towers Company Limited (Tawal), the largest telecommunications infrastructure company in the Kingdom with an enterprise value of SAR 21.9 billion, a recent press release revealed.
Afterward, both parties will merge Tawal and Golden Lattice Investment Company (GLIC), forming the largest regional company in the telecommunication infrastructure sector.
The new entity will be owned 54% by PIF and 43.1% by STC Group, with GLIC minority shareholders owning the remaining issued share capital.
The transactions are expected to be completed during the second half of 2024 after obtaining all regulatory approvals.
Raid Ismail, Head of MENA Direct Investments at PIF, stated that the partnership represents a significant milestone for the telecommunications industry in the Kingdom and the wider region.
“By bringing together the assets of GLIC and Tawal, we will establish a consolidated platform on which the telecommunications sector can flourish and give people a better experience to best connect communities and businesses,” Ismail elaborated.
He affirmed that the partnership with STC aligns with the fund’s strategy and Vision 2030’s objectives.
For his part, Motaz Alangari, Group Chief Investment Officer of STC Group, said: “These agreements are part of STC Group’s continuous endeavor to grow and maximize value in the most sustainable manner, by recycling capital while retaining ownership in strategic value-added assets to benefit from the return on these assets and enable expansion into new domains.”
The new entity is forecasted to significantly enhance consumer experience and network coverage, improve connectivity and mobile internet speeds, deliver operational efficiencies, help drive wider innovation in the telecommunication sector across the region and globally, and support the development of a more efficient and frictionless business environment.