Indian telecom tower company Viom Networks is looking to raise as much as US$1.5bn in an IPO, according to media reports.
The company reportedly plans to file a draft prospectus at the beginning of 2011 to get approval from the capital markets…
Indian telecom tower company Viom Networks is looking to raise as much as US$1.5bn in an IPO, according to media reports.
The company reportedly plans to file a draft prospectus at the beginning of 2011 to get approval from the capital markets regulator.
It has also hired five banks, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, IDFC Capital and Morgan Stanley to arrange the share sale, according to people familiar with the situation quoted by reports.
The sale is expected to comprise a fresh issue of shares by Viom and the sale of shares by existing private equity firms.
Viom is a joint venture between Quippo Telecom Infrastructure and the infrastructure arm of Tata Teleservices. Last August, Macquarie SBI Infrastructure Fund (MSIF) bought an 11% stake in Viom for Rs14.2bn (US$304m). MSIF is an India-focused infrastructure fund jointly managed by Australia-based Macquarie Capital and State Bank of India.
At the time, the company said that the proceeds from the transaction would be used to repay loans, making it debt free. The company, which currently has 37,000 towers with 80,000 tenants, plans to set up another 25,000 towers in the next two years, it added.
In an email to TelecomFinance, Viom said they would not comment on market speculation.