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Tawal merger to create giant Saudi telecom towers company

By Pramod Kumar
Transmitter tower on the mountain of Sljeme in Zagreb – Tawal owns assets Croatia and elsewhere in Europe Alamy via Reuters
Transmitter tower on the mountain of Sljeme in Zagreb – Tawal owns assets Croatia and elsewhere in Europe

Saudi Arabia is creating a new telecommunications infrastructure company, which is expected to have 30,000 mobile tower sites and estimated annual revenues of $1.3 billion.

The new entity will be created following the merger of Tawal, the largest telecommunications infrastructure company in Saudi Arabia, and Golden Lattice Investment Company (GLIC), which is majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.

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As part of the deal, the PIF will acquire Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) 51 percent stake in Tawal, a STC subsidiary, for SAR 8.7 billion ($2.32 billion).

The new entity will be 54 percent owned by PIF and 43 percent by STC, with GLIC minority shareholders Prince Saud Bin Fahad bin Abdulaziz and Sultan Holding Company each owning stakes of nearly 1.5 percent. 

Tawal has an enterprise value of nearly $6 billion, while GLIC is valued at $807 million, STC said in a statement.

The Saudi-listed telecom company, which is majority owned by PIF, will inject SAR533 million in the new entity’s capital.

The transactions are expected to be completed in the second half of 2024 after obtaining the required regulatory approvals. 

Combining Tawal and GLIC is a “stepping-stone to consolidating the Saudi tower market”, said Motaz Alangari, group chief investment officer of STC.

Tawal owns infrastructure assets in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia. 

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