Telkom to seek equity partner for tower property division
CEO Sipho Maseko says that with an equity partner and selling off some properties the tower business can be scaled up quickly
Telkom is seeking an equity partner to help build more mobile-network towers as the former phone monopoly seeks new ways to increase revenue away from its core, fixed-line business. The company may also sell some of its 1,332 properties to raise cash for the project, CEO Sipho Maseko said on Monday. Telkom combined towers and real estate into a new unit called Gyro as part of a restructuring two years ago. “We expect that with an equity partner and selling off some of the properties that are not core and that we are not using anymore we can scale our tower business quite quickly,” he said after Telkom reported full-year results.
The book value of the company’s property portfolio is between R10bn and R12bn, the CEO said. Telkom is looking to invest in high-growth businesses to offset the long-term sales decline at the fixed-line division. Telecommunication towers are used by mobile-phone operators to extend coverage and offer high-speed data services such as 4G and 5G.Telk...
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