Milbank LLP advised PT Indosat Tbk. (Indosat Ooredoo), a leading digital telecommunications provider in Indonesia, in connection with its sale of 3,100 telecommunications towers to two local tower providers PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel) and PT Professional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo).
The sale was by way of a competitive public auction process, culminating with the sale and leaseback of 2,100 towers to Mitratel and 1,000 towers to Protelindo for a total transaction value of approximately US$450,000,000. Upon completion of the transaction, Indosat Ooredoo will enter into a 10 year lease with each buyer for space on the sale towers. The transaction is anticipated to allow the buyers to strengthen their respective market positions while allowing the seller to monetize non-core assets. Indosat plans to use the proceeds of the sale for investment, principally to increase capacity and 4G network quality.
Indosat Ooredoo is one of Indonesia’s largest telecommunication networks and services provider with currently around 63 million cellular subscribers. Established in 2003, Protelindo has become the largest independent owner and operator of towers for wireless operators in Indonesia. Mitratel is a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia providing telecommunications towers and infrastructure for several telecommunications operators in Indonesia.
The Singapore-based Milbank team was led by partner Giles Kennedy with support from partner Jacqueline Chan, and associates Jim McFarlane and Raashi Mukherji.
Mr. Kennedy said: “Our Singapore TMT team is pleased to have advised on this transaction, which was a win-win for all parties. We look forward to continuing to build upon our reputation as a leading advisor on telecommunications transactions across Southeast Asia.”
