American Tower to sell India operations to Brookfield for $2.5 billion

Canada-based Brookfield will acquire the Indian business of American Tower Corporation (ATC) for an enterprise value of USD 2 billion, a release said on Friday.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close in the second half of 2024.

"Data Infrastructure Trust (DIT), an Infrastructure Investment Trust sponsored by an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, today announced the signing of an agreement with ATC to acquire 100 per cent of equity interests in American Tower's operations in India (ATC India), for an enterprise value of Rs 16,500 crore (USD 2 billion) which is subject to pre-closing terms as per the securities purchase agreement," it said.

ATC India has a portfolio of approximately 78,000 sites across the country.

This will be Brookfield's third acquisition in the Indian telecommunications space. In 2022, Brookfield acquired a portfolio of 5,000 indoor business solution sites and small cell sites, which advances the rollout of 5G and enables telecom operators to extend their coverage capacity in difficult-to-access and dense areas.

Brookfield also has a portfolio of nearly 1,75,000 towers that were acquired in 2020 from Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Ltd.

ATC India will be included in DIT, which includes the existing telecommunications assets.

Arpit Agrawal, Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure, India and Middle East, at Brookfield, said, "We look forward to expanding and enhancing our existing telecom tower portfolio in India, which enables a broader array of solutions for our customers and partners".

"Through strategic acquisitions like ATC India, we remain deeply committed to empowering digital connectivity and transforming the telecom infrastructure landscape across the region," he added.

In India, Brookfield has approximately USD 25 billion in assets under management across Infrastructure, Real Estate, Renewable Power & Transition and Private Equity.