Bharti Hexacom puts infrastructure division sale to Indus Towers on hold

Bharti Hexacom has announced that the proposed sale of its infrastructure division to Indus Towers has been placed on hold. In February, Indus Towers had revealed plans to acquire the mobile tower assets of Bharti Airtel Limited and Bharti Hexacom Limited for a total of Rs 3,308.7 crore. However, the transaction has now been paused.

Bharti stated,"Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), a public sector undertaking and a significant shareholder in Bharti Hexacom, has requested the company to initiate a fresh process that aligns with the requirements of TCIL as a Public Sector Undertaking."

The statement further read,"while the management and board of Bharti Hexacom continue to believe in the business rationale and merit of the proposal, in keeping with the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency, it has been decided to place the current proposal on hold. A new process will be initiated in consultation with TCIL. All stakeholders will be duly informed of any future developments in this regard."

Previous reports indicated that the boards of Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom had approved the sale or transfer of approximately 12,700 and 3,400 telecom towers respectively, valued at Rs 2,147.6 crore and Rs 1,134 crore. The agreement does not include the transfer of sites established under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) initiatives.

Indus Towers stated,"As per the information received from Bharti Hexacom and communicated to the stock exchanges, the sale or transfer of Bharti Hexacom’s passive infrastructure business undertaking to the company has been placed on hold. All stakeholders will be kept fully informed of any future developments in this matter."

Additionally, Indus Towers confirmed that it has completed the acquisition of a passive infrastructure business undertaking from Bharti Airtel. As of 31st December, Indus Towers has 234,643 towers and 386,819 co-locations around India. Bharti Airtel is the parent company of both Indus Towers and Bharti Hexacom.