RCom to sell entire stake in Reliance Infratel

The sale would fetch it around Rs 22,000 cr; Reliance Infratel has about 43,500 mobile towers

Reliance Communications (RCom) is close to finalising a deal to sell its entire stake in tower unit Reliance Infratel, sources said.

RCom owns about 96 per cent stake in Infratel and the sale would fetch it around Rs 22,000 crore, which will be used to retire some debt. The deal values Infratel at around Rs 22,500 crore. Reliance Infratel has about 43,500 mobile towers.

The debt of RCom stood at around Rs 38,000 crore.

According to sources, the deal is almost finalised and is likely to be announced within 10 days.

When contacted, RCom declined to comment.

A few months ago, RCom had said that it had short-listed bidders that have sought to acquire up to 100 per cent stake in Infratel.

RCom is looking to monetise its non-core assets to bring down the the debt-to-Ebitda ratio to about 3 in 18-24 months.

The company's net debt-to-Ebitda ratio is about 4.64.

To achieve this target, the Anil Ambani group firm is planning to hive off its DTH business, sell stake in international operations at Reliance Globalcom and divestment of Infratel, among others.

In general terms, debt-to-Ebitda ratio is the measure of the ability of a firm to pay off its debts and is a useful tool in assessing the creditworthiness of a company.

Shares of Reliance Communications on BSE surged over 9 per cent today to Rs 71.15 on stake sale buzz.