Private equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle have signed a term sheet to buy a 95% stake in Reliance Infratel, the tower unit of India’s Reliance Communications (RCom), according to the Business Standard.
Infratel operates approximately 50,000…
Private equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle have signed a term sheet to buy a 95% stake in Reliance Infratel, the tower unit of India’s Reliance Communications (RCom), according to the Business Standard.
Infratel operates approximately 50,000 towers in the country and it is estimated that a deal could fetch between Rs150bn (US$3bn) and Rs20bn (US$4bn), sources told the paper.
RCom, which is India’s second-largest mobile operator, has actively been seeking to sell Infratel, as it struggles with a US$7bn debt load.
About 16 months ago, RCom had already been very close to a deal with another tower company, GTL. But the US$11bn tower merger collapsed on alleged valuation differences.
More recently, in June last year, a deal with independent towerco Viom Networks also failed after Reliance Infratel’s asking price of US$5bn was reportedly branded as unrealistic.
RCom was not available for comment before the press deadline.
