Finance Saudi Telecom raises $1.34bn to buy European towers By Pramod Kumar August 28, 2023, 8:17 AM Reuters TASC Towers will continue to operate independently with a board of non-Zain majority members Tawal, a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company (STC), has completed the acquisition of three tower companies of United Group in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia for €1.22 billion ($1.34 billion). The company agreed to buy tower infrastructure in April as part of its first foray into Europe’s telecoms market. Tawal raised a Shariah-compliant loan worth $1.42 billion to fund the deal, which received regulatory approvals on August 24, STC said in a statement to the Saudi Exchange. Saudi Telecom’s H1 revenue hits record high at $9.7bn Dubai tech company buys Virgin Mobile Latin America Talks begin to set up Mena’s largest telco tower venture Saudi National Bank, the biggest lender in Saudi Arabia, contributed $1.02 billion to the loan, of which $300 million was a bridge loan. UAE-based Dubai Islamic Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank provided a loan of $250 million and $150 million, respectively. The financial impact of the transaction will be reflected in the third-quarter earnings. As part of the 20-year master services agreement with United Group, Tawal will deploy over 2,000 additional sharable sites, while co-location relationships with other mobile network operators will be maintained and expanded.