Research — Oct. 07, 2025
APAC telcos divest tower assets; towercos deliver long-term revenue stream
By Fed Mendoza and Divya Keshwani
In the past decade, Asia Pacific telecom towers landscape shifted from integrated ownership by mobile network operators (MNOs) to an independent towerco model, as evident in the historical tower deals tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan. From 2016 to 2025, we identified 61 tower deals, displaying dynamic tower asset divestment for spectrum acquisition, core network upgrades, and expansion of advanced networks such as 5G.
- Asia-Pacific tower deals peaked in 2022, with 19 deals totaling about $12.11 billion.
- Towers' M&A activities declined in later years, displaying economic considerations and shifted focus from megadeals to smaller, value-driven transactions.
- India had the largest tower M&As by total value over the past decade, with over $7.82 billion in total transactions, driven by the need for high capital expenditure required for 5G rollout and operational scale expansion to create other revenue streams.
Tower deals activity trend
The Asia-Pacific telecom tower market, the largest in the world with over 70% of global towers as of year-end 2024, according to Kagan estimates, has seen a gradual shift over the past years from the traditional model of MNOs owning and operating their passive infrastructure to independent tower companies taking the responsibility of building and managing the towers. We saw tower M&As peak in 2022 with 19 deals totaling about $12.11 billion, reflecting how telco players shift their business focus from high operational expenditure on tower leases to using capital gains for service upgrades and capital-intensive deployment of 5G networks. In addition, the surge was driven by the post-pandemic recovery, which accelerated demand for telecom infrastructure amid growing digitalization.
However, activity declined in 2023 and 2024, with deal values dropping to a total of $1.52 billion and $3.42 billion across eight and six deals, respectively, displaying the direct consequence of macroeconomic headwinds, which increased the cost of capital and shifted focus from megadeals to smaller, value-driven transactions.
In the latest edition of our Asia-Pacific mobile tower projections report, telecom tower build in the region is forecast for moderate growth over the next decade – from 6.1 million in 2024 to 7.7 million by 2035, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.8%.
Significant historical tower deals by market, transaction value
India had the largest tower M&As by total value over the past decade, with over $7.82 billion total transaction value, driven by the need for high capital expenditure required for 5G rollout and operational scale expansion to create other revenue streams. One of the largest transactions include Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP's $3.66 billion acquisition of 130,000 Reliance Industries Ltd.'s towers (completed in September 2020), its $2.20 billion purchase of 76,000 towers from American Tower Corp. (completed in September 2024), and American Tower's $1.20 billion deal for 20,000 Vodafone Idea Ltd. towers (completed in the first half of 2018).
Australia also witnessed large tower deal transactions, with an estimated $6.43 billion total transaction value from 2016 to 2024, displaying strong tower portfolio aggregation. Major transaction we traced is the acquisition by Future Fund, Commonwealth Superannuation Corp., and Sunsuper Pty. Ltd. (managed by Morrison & Co.) of a 49% minority stake in Telstra Corporation Ltd.'s InfraCo Towers for $2.80 billion (closed in June 2021).
Indonesia's tower asset monetization has intensified over the past decade, prompting MNOs and towercos to refine the core of their businesses. Kagan surveyed Indonesia had about $5.10 billion of total tower transaction value from 2016 to 2024. The largest tower acquisition in the market was the buyout of 6,800 towers of PT Solusi Tunas Pratama Tbk (STP) by PT Profesional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo) in November 2021, valued at $1.17 billion.
In the Philippines, PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.'s tower sale-and-leaseback transactions and aggressive asset monetization strategy in recent years largely contributed to the high historical tower deal valuation of the market, with an estimated $3.43 billion transaction value from 2016 to 2024.
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Click here to access the full APAC towers M&A article, including the spreadsheet for details on Asia-Pacific tower deals historical data.
Click here to access the latest edition of our Asia-Pacific mobile tower projections report, including the spreadsheet for tower estimates and projections.
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