April 20 (SeeNews) - Southeast Europe-focused multi-play telecoms and media provider United Group said on Thursday it agreed to sell its entire mobile tower infrastructure unit in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to Tawal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based stc Group, in a cash deal valuing the target entity at 1.22 billion euro ($1.33 billion).
Under the deal, Tawal will take ownership of a total of 4,800 cell towers in a deal which marks the Saudi Arabian company's entry into the European telecoms sector, United Group said in a press release.
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The acquisition by Tawal will provide fresh capital to boost the mobile network and includes plans to roll out some 2,000 additional sites within the next 20 years.
In turn, proceeds from the sale will allow the Southeast Europe-focused group to invest further in telecom and media services and infrastructure, along the lines of a recent trend for telecoms operators in Europe and worldwide, such as Vodafone and Cellnex, to spin off and divest their mobile mast infrastructure.
"We are delighted to have successfully crystalised the value of our tower assets in a deal that enables us to delever and navigate global macro-economic pressures. This will support continued investment in our portfolio companies to ensure they remain competitive in their respective markets," United Group CEO Viktoria Boklag said.
Tawal is the largest ICT infrastructure provider in the Middle East, Europe and North Africa region, with a portfolio of more than 16,000 mobile towers.
In Bulgaria, United Group owns mobile operator Vivacom as well as TV, online and radio company Nova Broadcasting Group. The Netherlands-based telecoms group also owns mobile, broadband and cable TV operator Telemach in Croatia and in Slovenia, where it also provides digital broadcasting services through Total TV.
($ = 0.9116 euro)