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ublicly listed cellular operator PT XL Axiata will sell its 3,500 telecommunication towers to tower operator PT Solusi Tunas Prima (SUPR) in a Rp 5.6 trillion (US$459.4 million) deal.

XL, which is the country'€™s second-largest telecommunications operator, said on Wednesday that Solusi Tunas would complete the transaction in cash by year-end.

Under the deal, XL Axiata will rent the towers from Solusi Tunas for 10 years.

'€œBesides agreeing to sell its 3,500 towers to Solusi Tunas, XL has also agreed to rent the towers for 10 years at a competitive price,'€ XL said in a statement published Wednesday on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) website.

XL CEO Hasnul Suhaimi said the sale of the towers was part of XL'€™s strategy to lighten its assets so that the firm could focus on its core business of providing telecommunication services to its 62.9 million customers nationwide.

'€œWe will then use the funds raised from the sale to pay off part of our debt,'€ he said.

Hasnul stated in February that XL would sell a number of its towers to pay an $865 million debt that was incurred when it acquired PT Axis Telekom Indonesia in March.

XL pocketed a $500 million loan from Axiata Group Berhard'€™s shareholders and the remaining $365 million from UOB, the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and DBS.

XL Axiata Group is a Malaysian telecommunications firm that holds a 66.5 percent stake in XL.

Solusi Tunas president director Nobel Tanihaha said that the tower acquisition would strengthen his firm'€™s position in the telecommunication tower business in the country.

'€œThis acquisition will expand the number of quality [telecommunication] towers that we have as well as boost potential revenue from our tower business,'€ he said.

SUPR aims to add 1,000 towers to hit 4,187 towers by end of this year.

The firm has allocated around Rp 1.19 trillion for organic growth, such as adding the number of towers and expanding its fiber-optic business, and Rp 510 billion for acquiring minor companies this year.

XL officially invited bidders for its 3,500 telecommunication towers as of July this year.

The firm has yet to disclose the names of the companies that placed bids for the towers, but according to The Jakarta Post'€™s observations, tower operators PT Tower Bersama Infrastructure, PT Sarana Menara Nusantara and PT Inti Bangun Sejahtera were among those that placed bids, along with Solusi Tunas.

TBIG previously reiterated its intention to acquire XL'€™s towers by preparing $1 billion in loans and carrying out plans to issue bonds and sustained bonds valued $500 million and Rp 3.25 trillion, respectively.

The firm'€™s finance director ,Helmi Yusan Santoso, said, however, that his firm remained open to the possibility that his firm could cancel the plan if the expected price of XL was too high.