TAWAL, the telecom tower company controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is in discussions to acquire more than 10,000 sites from Mobily, the kingdom’s second-largest mobile operator, according to reports citing people familiar with the matter. Semafor described the talks as a multibillion-dollar transaction, while other coverage said the deal could be announced later this year if negotiations progress. Mobily is partly owned by the UAE’s state-controlled telecoms firm e&, the reports said. Mobily, PIF, and TAWAL did not respond to requests for comment in the coverage.
The strategic logic is scale. TAWAL already operates more than 30,000 telecom towers across Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Pakistan, and Slovenia, according to multiple reports. If the Mobily assets moved over, TAWAL’s footprint in its home market would deepen, and the company would further concentrate passive infrastructure under one owner. Semafor said the transaction, once completed, would make TAWAL one of the region’s biggest telecom tower owners and give it monopoly power over the kingdom’s mobile tower infrastructure. Mobile World Live also reported Mobily confirmed early-stage talks over a potential sale of its towers to TAWAL, aligning with those earlier reports.
Why This Negotiation Matters for Saudi Tower Economics
Market direction is also a backdrop. Mordor Intelligence estimates Saudi Arabia’s telecom towers market size at USD 793.80 million in 2025 and USD 828.09 million in 2026, with projections reaching USD 1023.28 million by 2031. The same source forecasts 4.32% CAGR over 2026–2031. It also estimates independent TowerCos held 59.02% of market share in 2025, with operator divestitures forecast to lift this segment at a 6.28% CAGR through 2031. In that context, a large asset transfer from an operator to a tower company would be consistent with the market structure Mordor describes.
The financing and ownership story matters, too. EnterpriseAM reported that PIF wrapped up a USD 2.3 bn (SAR 8.9 bn) acquisition of a 51% stake in TAWAL in February 2025. Separately, Semafor reported that after Saudi telco stc merged its own tower portfolio with TAWAL in 2024, the company had an enterprise value of nearly USD 6 billion. Those milestones help explain why the current talks are framed as a multibillion-dollar discussion: TAWAL has already been positioned as a consolidated platform for telecom infrastructure assets. One report on TAWAL’s international expansion also noted a USD 1.34 billion deal in 2023 to acquire United Group’s telecommunications tower assets across Europe, including Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia.
Investors are watching what comes next. Semafor and other outlets reported that, once the Mobily acquisition is completed, TAWAL is expected to start preparing for an IPO that could occur in 2027 or 2028. That creates a clear timeline narrative around the TAWAL Mobily towers deal: talks now, possible announcement later this year, and then potential IPO preparation. In parallel, Mordor’s segmentation shows where operational focus could land in the years ahead, with ground-based sites at 58.74% of market size in 2025 and rooftops projected to expand at a 5.87% CAGR between 2026 and 2031, while renewable-only towers are forecast to grow at a 16.41% CAGR to 2031.
What is being discussed in the TAWAL–Mobily towers deal talks?
How large is TAWAL’s current tower portfolio?
Who controls TAWAL today?
What IPO timeline has been reported for TAWAL?
What does Mordor Intelligence estimate for Saudi Arabia’s telecom towers market size and growth?
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