Mobily telecom towers sale would be ‘positive’: EFG-Hermes analyst

A move by Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) to potentially sell its telecom towers in Saudi Arabia would be a positive step, as it will provide the telco with cash for future investments, Omar Maher, telecom sector analyst at EFG-Hermes told Al-Arabiya TV.

“If Mobily generated $1.5 billion to $2 billion from the deal, the sale price would be higher than the book value of the towers. Thus, the kingdom’s second largest operator will generate capital gains,” Maher said.

His comments come on the back of a report from the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources stating that Mobily was planning to sell the towers for as much as much as $2 billion.

The telco later released a statement on Tadawul saying that it’s only currently only considering the sale after its shares were suspended from trading on the exchange for two hours early on Wednesday.