Reliance Communications nears deal for tower unit - sources

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Communications Ltd, India's fourth-biggest wireless carrier, is nearing a deal to sell its mobile phone masts unit to one or a consortium of private equity firms, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said, a move that will help it cut debt.

The carrier, headed by billionaire Anil Ambani, could sign a deal as early as next week to sell the unit in which it owns about 96 percent, the sources said, but did not name the likely buyer.

Reliance Communications expects an enterprise value of about 230 billion rupees ($3.5 billion) for the unit that has a portfolio of about 45,000 masts, the sources said. One of the sources said the equity value of the business could be around $2 billion.

The sources declined to be named as the deal talks are private.

The company, which said in August that it had received several bids for the unit and in September said it expected to sign and announce the sale of a stake in its mobile tower unit within the next month or two, declined to comment on Tuesday.

Sources told Reuters in July that U.S. private equity firms Blackstone, Carlyle and Providence Equity Partners were among potential suitors for the Reliance Communications tower unit.

Past efforts to sell a stake in the tower unit or to take it public have been unsuccessful.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Economic Times newspaper reported on its website that a deal for Reliance Communications' tower unit would be announced this week.

Mobile masts operators in India are seeing an increase in demand for communications towers as carriers expand high speed 3G and 4G Internet services to hinterlands in the world's second-biggest telecommunications market by number of users.

Last month, American Tower Corp agreed to buy a 51 percent controlling stake in Indian mobile mast operator Viom Networks for 76 billion rupees.

($1 = 66.3552 rupees)

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Sumeet Chatterjee; Additional reporting by Karen Rebelo; editing by Susan Thomas)