January 2024

Aetha’s Marc Eschenburg, Jonathan Wall, and Angus Inman wrote an article for TMT Finance on why MNOs are beginning to retain more control of their infrastructure. In summary:

• Operators are increasingly retaining stakes in TowerCo deals, particularly Middle East groups such as Ooredoo and Zain (TASC) or STC (Tawal)
• This element of control enables future strategic moves, such as M&A or network sharing, as the consolidation of two site grids can otherwise be complicated by long-term leases
• Tower valuations have held firm despite interest rate rises and operators retaining control, so we can expect more tower deals in the near future (e.g. A1, Millicom)
• However, if valuations do drift downward, operators could choose to focus on other strategic plays such as M&A or simply retain larger stakes (and control over) tower assets than they originally planned