Zain Saudi Arabia announced the completion of the sale of the infrastructure of its towers to Lattis Golden Investment Company, “Lattis Golden”, owned by the Public Investment Fund, Zain Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, and Sultan Holding Company, at a value of 3.02 billion riyals.
And the company stated in a statement on “Saudi Tadawul”, today, Monday, that, according to the deal, it committed to transfer no less than 3,000 towers out of 8,069 towers.
She said that ownership of the remaining towers will be transferred in installments within a period not exceeding 18 months.
The company stated that “Lattice Golden” is owned by the following parties: the Public Investment Fund by 60%, “Zain Saudi Arabia” by 20%, Prince Saud bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz by 10%, and Sultan Holding Company by 10%.
And it indicated that the deal includes tower structures only, while other equipment, such as wireless communications antennas, software, technologies and intellectual property, remains the property of Zain Saudi Arabia.
And she stated that the book value of the asset amounted to 1.6 billion riyals, pointing out that the net asset value of the deal amounted to 1.4 billion riyals in 2022, 1.3 billion riyals in 2021 and 1.5 billion riyals in 2020.
In its statement, the company stated that the reasons for selling the towers are to maximize the return to the company’s shareholders, by reducing dependence on capital expenditures and separating the ownership, operation and maintenance of the towers, which will lead to strengthening the financial position of “Zain Saudi Arabia” and focusing on investing in parallel markets and Creating value for the company’s customers.
She added that the expected impact of the deal on the company and its operations is as follows:
– First: Owning a 20% stake in the capital of “Lateess Golden”.
Second: Obtaining an amount of 2.4 billion riyals.
The company expected that the net profit of this deal would reach 1.1 billion riyals, distributed over the period of transferring ownership of the towers in installments within a period not exceeding 18 months.
And it indicated that it will use the proceeds resulting from the deal to maximize the return to its shareholders, through a combination of reducing financing burdens on it and financing its investments and core business.
The company confirmed, in the interest of transparency in disclosure, that the decision of the Board of Directors to approve these offers was unanimous, after excluding the relevant parties in the deal, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Zain Saudi Arabia”, Prince Nayef bin Sultan bin Muhammad bin Saud Al Kabeer, occupies the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Sultan Holding Company, and a member of the Board of Directors, Saud Al Bawardi, works for the United Company, in which Prince Saud bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz has an interest.
She said that any material developments in this matter will be announced in due time.
