Zain and Ooredoo Put 4,000 Kuwaiti and Qatari Towers Into Joint Company
The initial closing covers about 4,000 towers in Kuwait and Qatar, with each operator holding 50% of a platform built for roughly 30,000 sites across six markets.
Zain Group and Ooredoo Group have moved about 4,000 Kuwaiti and Qatari towers into a jointly owned company. It is the opening piece of a far larger regional platform both carriers intend to keep feeding.
Ownership is split evenly. Zain, based in Kuwait, and Qatar's Ooredoo each hold 50% of the tower company, and announced the step in a joint statement.
The transaction traces back to a tower consolidation agreement signed in December 2023 by the two operators and TASC Towers Holding. That agreement covers roughly 30,000 towers in six markets — Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria and Tunisia — at a combined estimated enterprise value of $2.2 billion at signing. When it was struck, the parties expected the first market closings during 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
Two portfolios in, more to follow
Zain Kuwait's ITK tower assets and Ooredoo Qatar's Al Abraj assets now sit inside the platform. Further portfolios are expected to be contributed over time, though each additional closing depends on closing conditions and on regulatory and other clearances.
Steel and leases, not spectrum
Neither operator is handing over its network. Zain and Ooredoo each keep their active equipment, along with the technology, software and intellectual property needed to run it. What changes hands, or rather changes owner on paper, is the passive layer: towers, sites and the leases attached to them.
What the two chief executives say
Bader Al-Kharafi, vice-chairman and group CEO of Zain, called the closing a "defining step" for digital infrastructure at both companies. He said it reflects a shared strategy to build focused, scalable and sustainable platforms, one he argues unlocks greater asset value and supports reducing the region's carbon footprint.
Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, group CEO of Ooredoo, described it as a "milestone" in the creation of a regional tower platform. The vehicle is designed to generate significant value with a clear route to expansion as more markets contribute, he said, adding that Ooredoo is executing across every digital infrastructure segment in its strategy.
Both sides point to three sources of value: the scale of the combined portfolio, capital efficiencies, and an operating model built solely around passive telecommunications infrastructure. As more portfolios join, the platform will offer infrastructure-as-a-service, intended to give operators a more capital-efficient way to reach towers.
Approvals and timing
Ooredoo's first-quarter results said the first tower closing was expected in the first half of 2026, following approval from Qatar's regulator. On June 4 the company launched Al Abraj as a standalone business that operates and manages Ooredoo Qatar's passive tower infrastructure, the first operational carve-out under the consolidation programme. In Kuwait, the Competition Protection Authority cleared the joint venture; that approval was disclosed on September 23 in an Ooredoo filing with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The numbers behind the two groups
Ooredoo reported first-half 2026 revenue of $3.4 billion, or QAR 12.5 billion, up 4.6% year on year, with net profit down 5.1% at $494 million, or QAR 1.8 billion. Its customer base stands at 147.5 million, including Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, across nine markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia. Zain's first-half 2026 net income rose 73% to $717 million, or KWD 220 million, and it served 51.9 million active customers in eight Middle East and African markets as of June 30, 2026. Ooredoo is listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange; Zain trades on Boursa Kuwait.
A 2026 ranking of the Middle East's 100 most valuable companies placed Ooredoo 43rd and Zain 64th. On a separate 2026 list of the region's top 100 CEOs, Fakhroo ranked 41st and Al-Kharafi 36th.
Splitting towers from the radio network changes what each business is. The platform collects lease income from tenants who are also its shareholders, a stream that behaves differently from consumer tariffs and is easier to borrow against. For Zain and Ooredoo the bet is that a company dedicated to passive infrastructure can carry debt and attract outside investors the operators would struggle to justify on their own consolidated books — and that a portfolio spanning six countries is worth more than 4,000 sites standing alone. None of the remaining closings is automatic. Each one still has to clear its own approvals.
