This week, Helios Towers have announced its latest financial results, showing a revenue increase of 25% from $212.4 million in HY1 2022 to $265.4 million in H2.
Helios attributes this significant bump to the strong performance of its newly acquired towers in Africa in recent years…

This week, Helios Towers have announced its latest financial results, showing a revenue increase of 25% from $212.4 million in HY1 2022 to $265.4 million in H2.

Helios attributes this significant bump to the strong performance of its newly acquired towers in Africa in recent years, with the company gaining towers from Free Senegal in Senegal in May 2021 and Airtel Africa in Madagascar and Malawi in November 2021 and March 2022, respectively.  

In total, the company’s tower portfolio has increased by around 2,000 towers this financial year, with the company’s complete tower holdings numbering around 10,700 in eight African markets: Senegal, Ghana, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, and Madagascar.

The company also recently entered the Middle East by purchasing almost 3,000 towers in Oman last year from state-run telco Omantel.  

“We have delivered strong organic tenancy growth in the first half of the year, which combined with the successful integration of acquired assets in Senegal, Madagascar and Malawi has resulted in impressive year-on-year financial performance,” explained Helios CEO Tom Greenwood, who took over the role back in April. 

Following these positive results, Helios says it will continue its M&A push in Africa and the Middle East, which it views as two exciting markets for connectivity infrastructure, given their young, growing population and strong GDP expansion forecasts. 

The company says that its targeted capex for 2022 is between $810 million and $850 million for 2022, with up to $650 million of this earmarked for further acquisitions.

This week, the Solomon Islands’s government has announced that it has a secured considerable loan from the Exim Bank of China, with the funds being used to deploy 161 new mobile towers across the country. The loan of roughly $94 million will be repaid over 20 years, with an annual interest rate of 1%.
The government said that the towers will be gradually deployed over the next three years, aiming to have half of the total deployed before the Pacific Games take place in the nation&’…

This week, the Solomon Islands’s government has announced that it has a secured considerable loan from the Exim Bank of China, with the funds being used to deploy 161 new mobile towers across the country.

The loan of roughly $94 million will be repaid over 20 years, with an annual interest rate of 1%.

The government said that the towers will be gradually deployed over the next three years, aiming to have half of the total deployed before the Pacific Games take place in the nation’s capital, Honiara, in November 2023.

Chinese equipment giant Huawei will be contracted to provide the technology for the new towers, which will provide 3G and 4G services to the Islanders.

The decision to move forward with this project comes as something of a surprise, since an independent review conducted by consulting firm KPMG suggested that the three-year deployment target is overly optimistic and said that the Solomon Islands’ government also appeared to overvalue the indirect economic benefits from the towers’ deployment.

« It is less certain that they can be achieved as they rely on other social and economic initiatives, » said the report.

The decision will also be something of a blow to the Australian government, which had itself agreed a tower funding deal with the Solomon Islands earlier this year – albeit on a much smaller scale.

Back in March, the Australian government agreed a roughly $4.5 million in grant funding for the deployment of six mobile towers

These towers will use equipment from Ericsson and NEC and are expected to be operational by the end of 2022.

“We are grateful for Australia’s ongoing support to improving connectivity in Solomon Islands. The support is a testimony to the strong partnership between our two countries in the telecommunications sector that builds on the success of the Coral Sea Cable project to deliver improved internet connectivity to the people of Solomon Islands,” said the Solomon Islands’ Minister for Communication and Aviation, Peter Shanel Agovaka, following the deal’s announcement.

The Australian government has expressed scepticism about the financial feasibility of this new deal with the Chinese bank, questioning the Solomon Islands government’s ability to pay back a loan of this size, even with its concessional interest rate.

Nonetheless, a government spokesperson was keen to distance itself from the decision, saying that it was a matter for the Solomon Islands’ government alone.

« Australia supports infrastructure investment that is transparent and open, meets genuine needs, delivers long-term benefits and avoids unsustainable debt burdens, » said the government in a statement.

This is not the first time China and Australia have clashed over connectivity investments in the Pacific in recent years. Just a month ago, the Telstra announced it had completed its acquisition of Digicel Pacific for $1.6 billion, with the Australian government providing $1.3 billion of the required funds, largely in an effort to stop the region’s crucial telecoms infrastructure falling under the control of a Chinese firm.
 

This week, Helios Towers have announced its latest financial results, showing a revenue increase of 25% from $212.4 million in HY1 2022 to $265.4 million in H2.
Helios attributes this significant bump to the strong performance of its newly acquired towers in Africa in recent years…

This week, Helios Towers have announced its latest financial results, showing a revenue increase of 25% from $212.4 million in HY1 2022 to $265.4 million in H2.

Helios attributes this significant bump to the strong performance of its newly acquired towers in Africa in recent years, with the company gaining towers from Free Senegal in Senegal in May 2021 and Airtel Africa in Madagascar and Malawi in November 2021 and March 2022, respectively.  

In total, the company’s tower portfolio has increased by around 2,000 towers this financial year, with the company’s complete tower holdings numbering around 10,700 in eight African markets: Senegal, Ghana, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, and Madagascar.

The company also recently entered the Middle East by purchasing almost 3,000 towers in Oman last year from state-run telco Omantel.  

“We have delivered strong organic tenancy growth in the first half of the year, which combined with the successful integration of acquired assets in Senegal, Madagascar and Malawi has resulted in impressive year-on-year financial performance,” explained Helios CEO Tom Greenwood, who took over the role back in April. 

Following these positive results, Helios says it will continue its M&A push in Africa and the Middle East, which it views as two exciting markets for connectivity infrastructure, given their young, growing population and strong GDP expansion forecasts. 

The company says that its targeted capex for 2022 is between $810 million and $850 million for 2022, with up to $650 million of this earmarked for further acquisitions.

This week, US investment firm KKR has announced that it has completed its acquisition of California-based IT security company Barracuda Networks from fellow private equity company Thoma Bravo.
The financial details of the deal have not been announced, but inside sources have previously suggested a price tag of roughly $4 billion. 
Barracuda provides cybersecurity solutions to small and medium…

This week, US investment firm KKR has announced that it has completed its acquisition of California-based IT security company Barracuda Networks from fellow private equity company Thoma Bravo.

The financial details of the deal have not been announced, but inside sources have previously suggested a price tag of roughly $4 billion. 

Barracuda provides cybersecurity solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with over 200,000 customers around the world. 

Back when the deal was first announced in April, KKR said that it would seek to expand the company’s offerings in various key areas, including managed detection and response and secure access service edge technology. The firm also says that it will push Barracuda to expand further into international markets

“We continue to see cybersecurity as a highly attractive sector and are excited to back a clear leader in the space,” said John Park, the head of KKR’s Technology team within its Americas Private Equity platform, speaking when the deal was first announced. “Given its proven track record of growth and innovation, we believe that Barracuda has the right team and model to capture business in this growing market.”

“We’re ready to deliver on our next phase of growth with KKR and remain dedicated to investing in our team and product portfolio to provide innovative cybersecurity solutions for our customers and partners,” added Hatem Naguib, CEO of Barracuda. “We‘re grateful to Thoma Bravo for their valuable strategic and operational support over the last four years.”

Cybersecurity has seen a surge in interest from private equity firms since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with the increased focus on working from home leading to a concurrent boom in cybercrime that continues to this day, particularly in the form of ransomware attacks. 

KKR itself already has significant investments in the cybersecurity industry, most notably managed cybersecurity services firm Optiv Security Inc, which it acquired back in 2017 for almost $2 billion. Since then, Optiv has expanded into Canada and Europe via numerous acquisitions and is now reportedly valued at over $3 billion.

In February, reports suggested that KKR was exploring a sale or the launch of an initial public offering for Optiv.

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