Zain Saudi’s shares plunge following cancelled tower sales announcement

Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) announced late on Sunday that it had decided not to sell its towers to IHS Holding Limited for regulatory reasons, triggering a sharp drop in its shares on Monday.

Zain received a letter from Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) stating that IHS did not meet the regulatory requirements and did not obtain the license required to lease and purchase Zain Saudi’s towers.

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Zain first said back in 2016 that it was exploring the sale of its passive tower infrastructure.

In August 2017, the company announced that its board of directors decided to enter into exclusive negotiations with a consortium led by IHS Holding Limited and Towershare Management Limited for the sale and leaseback (SLB) of its towers.

In November 2018, it announced that it had agreed a 15-year deal covering the sale and leaseback of 8,100 towers worth 2.43 billion Saudi riyals ($647.7 million).