American Tower agreed to acquire Eaton Towers, which owns and operates approximately 5,500 communications sites across five African markets, for approximately $1.85 billion. American Tower expects to accelerate new build activity across the region due to expanded relationships with multiple key tenants.
The Eaton towers are located in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Niger. Eaton Towers was co-founded in 2009 by Terry Rhodes, CEO. Alongside the majority shareholder, Capital International, investors include Development Partners International, Ethos and Standard Chartered.
American Tower said the Eaton assets are expected to generate approximately $260 million in property revenue and approximately $165 million in gross margin, at current exchange rates, in their first full year in American Tower’s portfolio.
Jim Taiclet, American Tower’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “This transaction will significantly augment our existing footprint in Africa and positions ATC to take even better advantage of the growth opportunity in the region as 4G mobile data technology is deployed to serve millions of Africans over the coming years.”
- American Tower’s global portfolio includes more than 170,000 sites.
