Reliance Communications is on the c usp of announcing a deal to sell Reliance Infratel that values its towers unit at 220 billion rupees (€3.1 billion).
Sources cited by the Economic Times on Tuesday expect the Indian telco to confirm the sale to a private equity firm this week.
A report in September by the newspaper claimed that RCom was in final talks with Farallon Capital, Carlyle, Tillman Capital, and American Tower.
Sources alleged that two suitors wanted to acquire Reliance Infratel outright, while the other two wanted to buy a 51% stake, and that RCom was leaning towards a complete exit from the business. Reliance Communications owns 95% of Reliance Infratel.
"The deal will be announced within a couple of days," said an unnamed source in the ET’s report on Tuesday.
Indeed, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani said during the company’s AGM in late September that the company was making excellent progress towards monetising its Reliance Infratel stake, and that he expected to sign and announce a the deal in the coming six weeks.
Reliance Infratel owns 45,000 towers, and its parent company said its sale will help strengthen its balance sheet and pay down debt, which stood at INR386 billion (€5.2 billion) at the end of June.
