ATC completes Rs 3,800-cr mobile tower deal with Vodafone India; Idea pact expected by May

Telecom infrastructure firm American Tower Corporation (ATC) today announced that it has completed mobile tower purchase deal worth Rs 3,800 crore with Vodafone India through its Indian arm. ATC Telecom Infrastructure, a majority-owned Indian subsidiary of ATC, has completed the transaction.

This is a previously announced acquisition of Vodafone India's telecom site business, which consists of approximately 10,200 communications sites, for a total cash consideration of about Rs 38 billion, ATC said in a statement. We are pleased to acquire this portfolio, which will complement our existing footprint and help us serve our tenants in India as they expand 4G services in the coming years," ATC's EVP and President, Asia, Amit Sharma said.

Completion of this deal brings the approval of Idea and Vodafone merger closer. The closure of approximately Rs 4,000-crore mobile tower sale deal between ATC and Idea is now awaited.

According to government sources, the merger of Idea and Vodafone will be cleared after the closure of Idea's pending deal with ATC.

"We expect regulatory processes to be completed by end of this month (for closure of deal with Idea). The Department of Telecom is driving it. We are hopeful of completing the deal by May," Sharma said.

The purchase of Vodafone mobile towers adds nearly 10,200 mobile network sites to the existing Indian portfolio.

The two deals are expected to generate approximately Rs 2,100 crore in property revenue and approximately Rs 800 crore in gross margin during their first full year in ATC's portfolio, as per the announcement earlier made by the company.