Two US private equity firms, Carlyle and Providence, Malaysia’s Axiata and American Tower have all reportedly been selected to bid for a stake in Indian towerco Viom Networks.
Negotiations are at an advanced stage, people familiar with the situation…
Two US private equity firms, Carlyle and Providence, Malaysia’s Axiata and American Tower have all reportedly been selected to bid for a stake in Indian towerco Viom Networks.
Negotiations are at an advanced stage, people familiar with the situation told the Economic Times.
American Tower already has 10,000 sites in India, while Providence has an indirect stake in local JV Indus Towers. The companies, as well as Axiata, were not immediately available to comment on the report. Carlyle and Viom declined to comment.
Viom, which owns around 40,000 towers in the country, reportedly has an equity value of Rs130bn (US$2.16bn) and an enterprise value of about Rs200bn (US$3.32bn).
Rumours of a sale or foreign listing of the towerco have circulated for several months. According to today’s report, Viom vice chairman Sunil Kanoria said a transaction could materialise by August.
Early this year, Viom confirmed in an emailed statement it had mandated financial advisers, thought to be Credit Suisse and Citigroup, “to explore options for raising growth capital”.
Local mobile operator Tata Teleservices has a 54% stake in Viom, while conglomerate Srei Group holds an 18.5% interest. Financial investors IDFC Private Equity, SBI Macquarie, Oman Investment Fund and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) together own the remaining 27.5%.
Kanoria was quoted as saying in January that the towerco planned to use the new capital to expand its network of towers in India and strengthen its global operations. Reports suggest some of the proceeds may also be used to refinance debt.
