American Tower and Millicom International Cellular Announce the Sale of Passive Tower Infrastructure in Colombia

BOSTON & STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- American Tower Corporation (“American Tower”) (NYSE: AMT), and Millicom International Cellular S.A. ("Millicom") (Stockholmsbörsen: MIC), today announced that Millicom’s subsidiary, Colombia Móvil S.A. E.S.P. (“Colombia Móvil”), has agreed to sell up to 2,126 towers to a to-be-formed Colombian subsidiary of American Tower (“ATC Infraco”) for US$182 million in cash. Through a Millicom subsidiary, Millicom and Colombia Móvil’s other shareholders will have an option to acquire an indirect, substantial minority equity interest in ATC Infraco.

Further, to support Colombia Móvil's wireless network and future deployment plans, Colombia Móvil and ATC Infraco will enter into a long term leasing agreement and build-to-suit agreement, whereby ATC Infraco will provide Colombia Móvil with wireless communications towers. The transaction is expected to create savings in both capital and operating expenditures for Colombia Móvil.

James Taiclet, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Tower, said: "This transaction solidifies our first partnership with Millicom and improves upon our current economies of scale in Colombia. As our customers in Colombia continue their focus on deploying wireless data networks, we believe our collocation model provides them with significant value through capex savings and time to market advantages. As a result, we believe this transaction further enhances our ability to maximize our market opportunity in Colombia."

Mikael Grahne, President and Chief Executive Officer of Millicom, said: “We are pleased to announce our first tower deal in Latin America. This agreement confirms our commitment to outsourcing passive infrastructure, and is entirely consistent with our strategy of improving both our capital and operating efficiency by focusing on our core activities of sales, marketing, branding, distribution, service innovation and customer care, and this makes even more sense in a large country such as Colombia. We are pleased that Colombia Móvil will be able to rely on the strong operational credentials of American Tower, which is firmly establishing itself in the Colombian market.”

The towers are expected to be transferred in a series of closings beginning during the fourth quarter of 2011, subject to customary closing conditions.

About American Tower

American Tower is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of broadcast and wireless communications sites. American Tower currently owns and operates over 37,000 communications sites in the United States, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, India, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. For more information about American Tower, please visit www.americantower.com.

About Millicom International Cellular S.A.

Millicom International Cellular S.A. is a global telecommunications group with mobile telephony operations in 13 countries in Latin America and Africa. It also operates various combinations of fixed telephony, cable and broadband businesses in five countries in Central America. The Group’s mobile operations have a combined population under license of approximately 260 million people.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” concerning American Tower’s goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives, plans, future operating results and underlying assumptions, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding American Tower’s expected acquisition of certain towers, anticipated closing date, and the expected cash consideration. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements, American Tower refers you to the information contained in its public filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and undertakes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.

CONTACT:

American Tower:
Leah Stearns, +1 617-375-7500
Director, Investor Relations
or
Millicom:
François-Xavier Roger, +352 27 759 327
Chief Financial Officer
or
Emily Hunt, +44 7779 018 539
Investor Relations

KEYWORDS:   United States  Europe  North America  South America  Colombia  Massachusetts  Sweden

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Technology  Internet  Networks  Telecommunications  Mobile/Wireless

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