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As many as three companies are in race to acquire a controlling stake in Reliance Communications’ tower subsidiary Reliance Infratel. A tower company and two private equity firms are in the fray, while two of them have expressed interest to acquire the entire stake RCom holds in the tower unit, sources close to the development told BusinessLine .
If inked, RCom expects to rake in at least $2.5 billion for a 51 per cent majority stake in its tower subsidiary, the sources, who declined to be identified before a formal announcement, said.
While the names of the companies could not be immediately ascertained, American Tower Corporation, according to sources, is the one company in the fray. ATC, on its part, declined to comment on what it termed as “market speculation”.
RCom holds 96 per cent stake in Reliance Infratel, while the remaining is held by institutional investors. The tower company owns a total of 45,000 towers.
When contacted an RCom spokesperson declined to comment.
After years of piling up debt, RCom had earlier initiated steps such as raising funds though qualified institutional placements (QIP) and selling real estate and other non-core assets to ease the burden.
RCom had a net debt of ₹38,596 crore as of first quarter ended June 30 against ₹36,726 crore in the fourth quarter.
Earlier in the day, RCom said in a regulatory filing that it received good responses for its intention to sell a controlling stake in Reliance Infratel.
A number of bidders had also expressed interest to acquire the entire stake held by RCom in Reliance Infratel. The company has also shortlisted a number of “credible” firms for the next round and has begun due diligence process.
It, however, did not disclose the name of the bidders.
Bidders shor-listed Some of the short-listed bidders have expressed interest to acquire up to 100 per cent, it said, adding “further announcements will be made as and when appropriate”.
Shares in RCom closed up 2.13 per cent at ₹62.20 on the BSE, down 0.67 per cent on Monday.
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