American Tower said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Eaton Towers, which owns and operates about 5,500 communications sites across five African markets. The company also expects to accelerate new build activity across the region due to expanded relationships with multiple key tenants. The total consideration for the transaction, including the company’s assumption of existing Eaton Towers debt, is about USD 1.85 billion.
The assets are expected to generate about USD 260 million in property revenue and about USD 165 million in gross margin, at current exchange rates, in their first full year in American Tower’s portfolio. The transaction is anticipated to add immediately to consolidated AFFO per share after closing by the end of 2019.
Eaton Towers claims to be the only tower company in Niger and Burkina Faso, the largest tower company (by number of towers) in Kenya and the second largest in Uganda and Ghana. Owned by private equity investors, the company had been considering an IPO last year, but shelved the plans due to difficult market conditions.American Tower last year entered the Kenyan market and is also active in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda.
