US Firm Gets Authority to Acquire Telkom Kenya's 723 Telecommunication Towers

American Tower Corporation (ATC) has received the go-ahead for acquisition of more than 700 telecommunications towers from Telkom Kenya.

ATC received the nod from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) for acquisition of the 723 towers, marking the multinational's entry into the Kenyan market.

This comes months after ATC and Telkom Kenya struck a deal for the transfer of the towers in May this year for an undisclosed amount.

“The Competition Authority of Kenya authorises the proposed acquisition…of 97.2 per cent of Telkom Kenya Limited towers by American Tower Corporation (ATC) Kenya Operations Limited,” said CAK director general Wang’ombe Kariuki in a gazette notice published last Friday.

Telkom Kenya which is third-placed behind Safaricom and Airtel in terms of customer base hopes to use the proceeds from the deal to strengthen its balance sheet.

“The sale will release capital for further investment in our 4G network and a number of state-of-the-art IT platforms, all of which will further enhance services for our customers,” Telkom Kenya chief executive Aldo Mareuse said in a statement on May 7th.

ATC runs long-term lease arrangements with its partners. In 2011, it reached a deal with South Africa's MTN Group to establish a joint venture tower company in Uganda.