Indian independent towerco Viom Networks has postponed plans to list on the Bombay Stock Exchange, according to sources cited by the Economic Times.
The infrastructure arm of Tata Teleservices, which together with Quippo Telecom Infrastrucure owns Viom,…
Indian independent towerco Viom Networks has postponed plans to list on the Bombay Stock Exchange, according to sources cited by the Economic Times.
The infrastructure arm of Tata Teleservices, which together with Quippo Telecom Infrastrucure owns Viom, is against its stake being diluted.
Executives were also quoted saying that the time may not be right for a listing given the current state of the equity market as well as the controversy surrounding the Indian telecom sector amid the 2G scam.
The company declined to comment.
In March, the company reportedly decided to cut its IPO price from Rs50-60bn (US$1.5bn) to Rs45bn (US$1bn). A listing was scheduled to take place between April and September.
The company had hired five banks – Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, IDFC Capital and Morgan Stanley – to arrange the share sale, which was expected to comprise a fresh issue of shares by Viom and the sale of shares by its existing private equity owners.
Viom was last week quoted saying it was open to looking at Reliance Infratel, the tower unit of local mobile operator Reliance Communications (RCom). Executive Sunil Konaria said the company was among the targets his company could look at, emphasising however that there had been no specific talks.
Viom is owned by IDFC Private Equity, Macquarie SBI Infrastructure Fund, Oman Investment Fund and GIC-Singapore.
Last week, it was reported that PE firms Carlyle and TPG had started talks over a potential stake in Infratel, while Apax and Blackstone were considering such a move.
