Helios Towers raises a further US$630 million from rights issue

Helios Towers Africa (HTA) has raised US$630 million in new equity resources from existing and new shareholders. The news comes as the company signed a deal to buy 3,100 towers from Bharti Airtel in a deal reputedly worth around US$2 billion.

Existing shareholders including: Quantum Strategic Partners, Helios Investment Partners, Albright Capital Management, RIT Capital Partners and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), all added to their current stakes and are now joined by new shareholders Providence Equity Partners and IFC African, Latin American, and Caribbean Fund.

HTA also expects to complete negotiations shortly on new and extended debt facilities amounting to of over US$350 million with a syndicate of international and local lending institutions.

Following this latest injection of capital into the business, HTA will have raised over US$1.8 billion in external financing since inception in late 2009 to fund acquisitions and organic growth.

HTA estimates that there is a need for 100,000 towers in Africa to merely satisfy demand for 2G coverage and associated capacity demand over the next five years. This towers requirement is underpinned further by the growing demand for 3G and 4G data, which is driving the need for significant additional infrastructure capacity and in-fill across the continent.

As a result of the recently announced transaction with Bharti Airtel, HTA is, on an owned-tower basis, the largest tower company in Africa, with over 7,800 owned towers.