Indian towerco Bharti Infratel is reportedly in advanced talks to buy towers from Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for up to Rs100.8bn (US$1.59bn).
Infratel parent Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are joint venture partners in Indus Towers, the…
Indian towerco Bharti Infratel is reportedly in advanced talks to buy towers from Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for up to Rs100.8bn (US$1.59bn).
Infratel parent Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are joint venture partners in Indus Towers, the country’s largest towerco. Airtel and Vodafone each have 42% stake in independently-managed Indus, while Idea has a 16% holding.
Vodafone may sell 11,000-12,000 towers, while Idea may sell 9,000, the Business Standard cited banking sources as saying.
Infratel reportedly plans to pay between US$60,000 and US$100,000 per tower and would likely fund the purchases with equity and debt.
An Infratel spokesperson said the company “evaluate[s] options on an ongoing basis and [is] open to opportunities provided there is a strategic fit”.
Vodafone has declined to comment and Idea was not available.
The proceeds from such sales could help Vodafone and Idea to pay for spectrum acquired in this year’s record-breaking auction and upgrade infrastructure to fend off competition from new wireless entrant Reliance Jio, which is building out its network in preparation for launching 4G services later this year.
According to Deloitte Research & Analysis, Indus had a 31% share of the Indian tower market in terms of tower numbers and a 37% share in terms of tenancies as of May this year. Infratel’s 42% stake in Indus makes it the second largest player in terms of tower numbers and tenancies.
This is one of several rumoured deals in the Indian tower space: American Tower and The Carlyle Group are reportedly in the lead to buy a 51% stake in Infratel; Ascend Telecom and Viom Networks are planning IPOs; and GTL Infrastructure lenders are reportedly considering converting some of the towerco’s debt into equity ahead of a sale.