TPG PLANS US$700 m MYANMAR PUSH
US private equity firm pursuing deal to create country’s biggest independent owner of telecom towers, say sources
TPG, the first major United States private equity firm to invest in Myanmar after it emerged from military rule, is working on another landmark transaction in what is becoming one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
It was pursuing a deal to create Myanmar’s biggest independent owner of telecom towers as mobile-phone usage in the country soared, said sources.
TPG-backed Apollo Towers Myanmar Ltd was seeking to merge with rival Pan Asia Majestic Eagle Ltd, according to the people.
TPG planned to become the majority shareholder of any combined entity, which would have more than 3,000 towers and an enterprise value of at least US$700 million (RM2.79 billion), said the people.
The firm teamed up with former LightSquared Inc chief executive officer Sanjiv Ahuja to form Apollo Towers in 2014, with its growth-equity unit investing about US$40 million, Bloomberg reported at the time.
The firm was an early mover in Myanmar, following up the Apollo Towers transaction with a 2015 deal to buy 50 per cent of Myanmar Distillery Co, maker of the country’s leading whisky brand.
TPG sold the business last year to billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Thai Beverage Pcl, roughly tripling the value of its investment in one of the country’s first significant private-equity exits, said the report.
Since TPG’s initial investment in Apollo Towers, the airwaves had been opened to foreign investors, and now almost everyone in the Southeast Asian country had a phone with Internet service. A combination of Apollo Towers and Pan Asia would become the country’s biggest independent owner of wireless infrastructure, with more towers than Irrawaddy Green Towers Ltd, said the people.
Any merger would add to the US$78.6 billion in private-equity deals announced this year that involved Asian targets, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
There was no certainty the deliberations would lead to a transaction, and any deal would need regulatory approval, according to the sources.
Myanmar Investments International Ltd, which traded on London’s AIM venue for small-cap listings, was also an investor in Apollo Towers, according to its website.
Frost & Sullivan Inc said last year it expected consolidation in the growing Myanmar tower market, which needed to add as many as 8,000 new sites to provide full coverage.