Gulf telecoms forge $2.2bn tower alliance with Ooredoo and Zain

State-backed telecoms operators Qatar’s Ooredoo and Kuwait’s Zain have struck a three-way partnership deal to merge their mobile towers, creating a regional powerhouse with an estimated enterprise value of $2.2 billion. The new entity, managed by Zain-backed TASC Towers Holding, will oversee a portfolio of approximately 30,000 towers across countries such as Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, and Jordan. Ooredoo and Zain will each own 49.3%, while the remaining stake will go to TASC. While the deal allows Ooredoo to offload capital-intensive infrastructure, Zain secured favorable deal terms, paying an average price per tower that is 9.5% less than in previous transactions. This move enables Ooredoo to retain a substantial portion of any improvements in the towers’ performance. The deal comes 15 months after Ooredoo revealed its plans to sell its towers, which initially attracted interest from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF. However, the transaction announced on Tuesday is of a significantly smaller scale. By forming this partnership, Ooredoo can make a partial exit and avoid missing out on further deal-making opportunities.