BHARTI INFRATEL AND INDUS TOWER MERGER

The combination of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers by way of merger which was officially completed on November 19.This will create a pan-India tower company, with over 163,000 towers, operating across all 22 telecom service areas in India. The merger aimed to streamline operations, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency in the increasingly competitive telecom market in India.

The total shareholding of Bharti Airtel in Indus Towers Limited will be 36.73%.

Bimal Dayal, who was the Managing Director and CEO of Indus Towers, has been appointed as the CEO of the merged entity.

Bharti Infratel has announced that the new entity would have a turnover of over Rs 25,000 crore.

It is estimated that the merging of both tower companies would help Bharti Infratel to save Rs 560 crores annually.

According to the terms of the arrangement, the merged company will be referred to as Indus Towers Limited.

The board of Bharti Infratel has also allotted 75.78 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each to the Vodafone Group Plc. This amounts to a 28.12% stake in the newly merged entity. Providence has been allotted 8.75 crore shares at Rs 10 each. Thus, Providence (or PF Asia Holding Investments [Mauritius] Ltd) has a 3.25% stake in Indus Towers Ltd.

The merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers is founded on a shared commitment to realise the Government of India’s ‘Digital India’ vision.This delivers significant benefits to 1.3 billion Indian consumers.Also helps in creating substantial value to all the stakeholders. Merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers to create a mega tower company has been completed, and debt-ridden Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL) has received about ₹3,760 crore cash for its 11.15% holding in Indus, according to a regulatory filing.

Malavika VJ