Brookfield to buy American Tower’s India ops for $2.5 billion By Reuters

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<span>© Reuters. A telecommunications tower managed by American Tower is seen in Golden, Colorado February 25, 2014. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo </span><br />
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<p>(Reuters) -Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management (TSX:) will buy American Tower (NYSE:)’s loss-making Indian operations for $2.5 billion, it said on Friday, helping it overtake Indus Towers to become the country’s largest operator of telecom towers.</p>
<p>The deal, one of India’s largest-ever telecom infrastructure deals, will be Brookfield’s third such acquisition in its four years in the country and marks American Tower’s exit after 16 years.</p>
<p>American Tower has been considering selling its India operations for nearly a year due to the inability of its top client Vodafone (NASDAQ:) Idea to clear dues and recently took a roughly $322 million writedown on the value of the business.</p>
<p>American Tower said it will continue to hold Vodafone Idea’s optionally convertible debentures and will be entitled to receive its dues.</p>
<p>Brookfield operates around 157,000 telecom towers in India via its associate Data Infrastructure Trust, while American Tower operates some 77,000 towers.</p>
<p>Indus has roughly 193,000 towers. Vodafone Idea has a stake of about 3% in Indus, while Bharti Airtel, one of India’s top telecom companies, has a roughly 48% stake.</p>
<p>The tower companies are all vying for business from India’s top three telcos. But while Airtel and Reliance Industries’ Jio have been growing, Vodafone Idea is struggling operationally and financially.</p>
<p>“The acquired sites are expected to diversify DIT’s (Data Infrastructure Trust) revenues and increase touch points with all mobile network operators in India,” Brookfield said in a statement.</p>
<p>Brookfield entered India in 2019 by buying some 130,000 towers from Reliance and it acquired a portfolio of another 5,000 towers in 2022.</p>
<p>Data Infrastructure reported revenue of 111 billion rupees ($1.33 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2023, compared to Indus Towers’ 283.8 billion rupees.</p>
<p>The transaction is expected to be close in the second half of 2024.</p>
<p>Indus Towers’ shares rose 2.5%, while Bharti Airtel’s shares were little changed. ($1 = 83.2150 Indian rupees)</p>
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