Telecom tower company Bharti Infratel on Tuesday said it will proceed with its merger with Indus Towers.
The new merged entity would become the world’s largest telecom tower company with more than 1.63 lakh towers.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone will jointly control the combined telecom tower company in India.
Vodafone Group will have 28.2 percent stake, while private equity firm Providence will have 3.2 percent stake in the telecom tower business in India. Bharti Airtel’s shareholding in Bharti Infratel would be diluted from 53.5 percent to 36.7 percent.
At the current Bharti Infratel market valuation, Vodafone’s stake in the combined company would have a value of approximately INR 151 billion (€1.7 billion) and Vodafone Idea would receive approximately INR 40 billion (€464 million) in cash upon completion.
Indus Towers is a three-way joint venture between Bharti Infratel, Vodafone UK and Vodafone Idea.
Vodafone Idea is aiming to raise around Rs 4,500 crore towards its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues worth around Rs 53,000 crore. It has made a part payment of around Rs 8,000 crore.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had cleared Bharti Infratel’s merger deal with Indus Towers in February.
“After deliberations the board has decided to authorise the chairman to proceed with the scheme of arrangement and to comply with other procedural requirements for completion of the merger,” Bharti Infratel said in a stock filing.
The scheme will become effective on the date on which the certified copy of the order of NCLT is filed with the Registrar of Companies.
