Idea Cellular completes sale of standalone tower asset to ATC Telecom

Idea Cellular on Thursday announced the completion of the sale of its pan-India standalone tower business, by divesting its entire stake in ICISL (100 per cent subsidiary of Idea), to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited.

The transaction has been closed with an enterprise value of Rs 4,000 crore for approximately 9,900 standalone towers.

Vodafone's sale of its standalone tower business to ATC has already been completed earlier for an enterprise value of Rs 3,850 crore. Post the completion of Vodafone India and Idea merger, around 6,300 co-located tenancies of the two operators on the combined standalone tower portfolio will collapse into single tenancies over a period of two years without the payment of exit penalties, the company said in a statement.

Both Vodafone India and Idea as customers, and ATC as a vendor, have agreed to treat each other as long-term preferred partners, subject to existing arrangements, it added.

"With this both Idea and Vodafone India have now monetised the standalone tower assets for a total enterprise value of Rs. 78.5 billion, as per the timelines provided at the time of the announcement in November 2017, strengthening the financial position of the merged entity," the statement said.

Amit Sharma, American Tower's EVP and President, Asia said in a statement: "We are pleased to acquire this portfolio, which will complement our existing footprint and help us serve our tenants in India as they expand their 4G networks in the coming years.

"This transaction also expands our presence in Central, North and Northeast India (Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Jammu & Kashmir Circles, among others)- under-served areas in which we expect substantial future 4G-focused investments."

--IANS

ag/bg