American Tower has a portfolio of around 78,000 sites across India
American Tower has signed a definitive agreement with Data Infrastructure Trust (DIT), an infrastructure investment trust associated with an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, for DIT to acquire 100% of the equity interests in American Tower’s operations in India (ATC India).
In a release, American Tower said that the DIT trust currently houses Brookfield’s telecom tower businesses in India through Summit Digitel and Crest Digitel. Total cash proceeds to American Tower at closing, subject to certain pre-closing terms, would potentially represent up to approximately INR 210 billion ($2.5 billion).
The transaction, which reflects the completion of the previously announced strategic review of American Tower’s operations in India, is subject to customary closing conditions, including government and regulatory approvals.
The U.S. company also said that the transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024.
According to American Tower, total cash proceeds include an enterprise value on the ATC India operations of approximately $2 billion. “Proceeds associated with the enterprise value assume the repayment of existing intercompany debt and the repayment, or assumption, of the existing India term loan, by DIT. Furthermore, and considered within the total potential cash proceeds above, American Tower will retain the full economic benefit associated with the optionally converted debentures (OCDs) issued by Vodafone Idea and will be entitled to receive future payments related to existing ATC India receivables,” American Tower said.
Proceeds from the transaction are expected to be used to repay American Tower’s existing debts, the firm added.
ATC India has a portfolio of around 78,000 sites across India.
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 roughly 175,000 towers that were acquired in 2020 from Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited.
Arpit Agrawal, managing director, head of infrastructure, India & 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.”
