Indus Towers, regularly in the news in recent months, has now hit the headlines with a major tower purchase in India.
Indus Towers will be acquiring a total of 16,100 telecom towers from national operator Bharti Airtel and regional service provider Bharti Hexacom for INR33.087 billion (about US$378 million) in a cash deal.
Bharti Airtel will sell 12,700 towers while Bharti Hexacom will sell 3,400 towers. Incorporated in 1995, Bharti Hexacom provides consumer mobile services, fixed-line telephone and broadband services in the Rajasthan and Northeastern regions of India.
Indus Towers said the proposed acquisition aligns with its core business line and it will increase the company’s market share and support its growth plans.
While the growth of towercos, and the increasing number of operators’ selling infrastructure to them, is nothing new, this deal is unusual in that it is a related party transaction; Bharti Airtel is the promoter, and the holding company of Indus Towers and Bharti Hexacom is a fellow subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.
India’s Economic Times news service quotes a regulatory filing from Indus Towers, which says: “The transaction is being done at arm’s length, based on an independent valuation report.”
Indus has a pan-India presence with 234,643 towers and 386,819 co-locations at the end of last year. Indus has been reported as saying: “In line with the company’s strategic priority of increasing its market share, the said acquisition will help the company add more towers to its portfolio, hence improving its market share.”
The deal is expected to be completed by March 31 this year.
Indus made headlines last year in a completely different context when multinational telecommunications company Vodafone Group sold off parts of its share in the company over 2024. This process culminated in the sale, in December of that year of its remaining 3% stake in Indus Towers for US$300 million to help reduce its debt pile.