KUALA LUMPUR: edotco Group, a unit of Axiata Group Bhd has announced the acquisition of about 1,000 towers from XL Axiata in a deal valued at about IDR750bil (RM219mil) through its local subsidiary PT edotco Infrastruktur Indonesia.

       As part of the transaction, edotco will acquire 859 towers through a sale and leaseback and enter into a managed service agreement for an additional 162 sites, with a significant build-to-suit potential with XL Axiata.

       Following the transaction, edotco will enjoy a truly pan-Indonesian platform with a presence across all the major islands of Java, Sumatra, Bali, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Eastern Indonesia.

       "We have been intensifying our efforts to enter Indonesia since mid-2021 and have been actively pursuing several entry strategies in parallel. The acquisition will accelerate our strategy towards becoming a top-five global TowerCo and help us gain a strong foothold in one of Asia's most sought-after tower and telecom markets.

       “Our ambition is to grow aggressively, both organic and inorganic, to scale up our operations and become one of the market leaders in Indonesia,” CEO Adlan Tajudin said in a statement.

       Following this transaction, edotco will have a presence in 9 markets across Asia, with a portfolio of over 50,000 owned and managed towers under its operations.

       The company also leverages its state-of-the-art real-time monitoring service, echo, which helps to improve field operations whilst maximising operational efficiencies.