Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications services and Helios Towers Africa (HTA), the leading independent telecoms towers company in Africa, today announced an agreement for the divestment of over 3,100 telecoms towers from Airtel to HTA. 

The agreements while allowing Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, would also enable it to deleverage through debt reduction, and will significantly reduce its ongoing capital expenditure on passive infrastructure. The agreement is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals in the respective countries. 

Commenting on the development, Manoj Kohli, chairman, Bharti Airtel International Netherlands BV (BAIN), said, ''The agreement is another milestone in Airtel's growth journey in Africa. Airtel pioneered the concept of a separate tower entity to promote infrastructure sharing in India and this agreement is a continuation of that philosophy. It is an important step towards the consolidation of tower assets across Africa that will drive industry-wide cost efficiencies through infrastructure sharing. The agreement will further help in accelerating the growth of telecom services in the continent and at the same time benefit the environment by avoiding duplication of infrastructure.''

Chuck Green, chief executive officer of HTA, added, ''HTA is proud to be chosen by Airtel as its partner for the ownership and management of its existing infrastructure. This is a ground-breaking move for HTA and Airtel's decision is a significant endorsement of HTA's reputation, management team and operating track record.''

Shares of the company gained Rs 0.40, or 0.12%, to settle at Rs 340.05. The total volume of shares traded was 684,096 at the BSE (Wednesday).