Bharti Infratel gains after FDI approval for Indus Towers merger

Bharti Infratel rose 1.11% to Rs 228.60 after the company said it has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approval for its proposed merger with Indus Towers.

"Please be informed that FDI approval for merger of Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel has been received late evening yesterday (21 Feb)," the company said in a regulatory filing.

Bharti Infratel's board will meet on Monday (24 February) to take stock and decide the future course of action, it said.

Incorporated in November 2007, Indus Towers offers passive infrastructure services to all telecom operators and other wireless services providers such as broadband service providers. It has been promoted under a joint venture between entities of Bharti Airtel (down 1.15%) and Vodafone Idea (down 0.23%).

With 1,24,692 towers in 15 circles across the country, Indus has the widest coverage in India and has already achieved 2,31,500 tenancies.

The proposed merger of Bharti Infratel with Indus Towers aims to create one of the world's largest telecom tower companies with more than 163,000 towers.

The Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers merger deal was signed in April 2018 and was to have been completed by October of 2019. This was extended to 24 December 2019 after the companies did not get government clearance by the initial deadline.

According to the media reports, the merger is crucial as it will help loss-making telecom companies Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea sell stake to raise funds in the competitive telecom battleground, especially at a time when they have to pay huge dues to the department of telecommunications after an unfavourable court verdict in October.

Bharti Infratel is on the largest telecom tower infrastructure providers that deploys, owns and manages telecom towers and communication structures for all wireless operators.

The company reported 23.2% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 798.70 crore despite a 3.8% decline in net sales to Rs 1667.20 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018.

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