Engro Corporation Ltd has shown interest in investing in mobile infrastructure, with a purpose-built tower with communication equipment.
Market sources claim the company aims to buy the tower assets of global wireless operator Veon Ltd, which runs the Jazz mobile network in Pakistan.
Engro Corporation’s spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the securities notification was related to Veon’s tower assets.
Bloomberg News reported that Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu was about to sell 10,000-12,000 mobile towers in Pakistan. A single tower is worth $60,000-$80,000; the deal size should be between $600 million and $960 million.
TPL Properties Ltd also showed interest in acquiring cellular tower infrastructure in Pakistan. However, TPL Properties was considering an investment opportunity of Rs100 billion, with a target of acquisition controlling “more than 25%” of cell towers nationwide.
Pakistan has 40,000 cellphone towers. Each MNO has 10,000-11,000 towers. Four MNOs operate 80% of mobile towers.