US incumbent AT&T is reportedly considering buying a 25% stake in Indian telco Reliance Jio Infocomm for US$3.5bn, according to the Times of India.
The acquisition would be the largest foreign direct investment in India and would give the company a…
US incumbent AT&T is reportedly considering buying a 25% stake in Indian telco Reliance Jio Infocomm for US$3.5bn, according to the Times of India.
The acquisition would be the largest foreign direct investment in India and would give the company a valuation of US$14bn, said the report.
Reliance Jio Infocomm is billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s latest foray into telecoms, having given mobile carrier Reliance Communications to his younger brother Anil when the conglomerate was split between the feuding siblings.
Rumours of a deal tie in with reports that AT&T is looking to expand outside of the US. In an interview in January with local publication Texas Monthly, AT&T’s CEO Randall Stephenson said that looking at acquisitions overseas was “inevitable” for the operator.
The Dallas, Texas-based telco’s last notable acquisitive play was for T-Mobile USA, but that US$39bn deal collapsed in late 2011 after US regulators effectively blocked the transaction on antitrust grounds.
AT&T is facing increased competition in the US due to T-Mobile USA’s reverse merger deal with MetroPCS and Softbank’s acquisition of a 70% stake in Sprint Nextel. Sprint is now eyeing Clearwire Corporation’s vast spectrum holdings and a possible acquisition of the merged T-Mobile USA/MetroPCS business has been mooted further down the line, setting the stage for AT&T to look for growth in other markets.
AT&T declined to comment on the report.
