by James E. Carroll
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will acquire a 100% stake in a telecom tower company in India from Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited for US$3.7 billion, of which Brookfield Infrastructure will invest approximately $375 million, with the balance being funded by its institutional partners.
The deal includes approximately 130,000 communication towers that forms the infrastructure backbone of Reliance Jio’s mobile network.
Brookfield says the majority of the towers are connected by fiber backhaul, which provides a unique platform to capitalize on the rollout of 5G and future technologies. Jio is an anchor tenant of the tower portfolio under a 30-year Master Services Agreement, providing a secure source of revenues for the tower company.
“This is a unique opportunity to invest in a large-scale, high-quality telecom business and participate in India’s high-growth data industry,” said Sam Pollock, Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Infrastructure. “This is an attractive business that offers downside protection with meaningful upside by co-locating equipment from other Mobile Network Operators on the towers, which to-date, have only carried Jio equipment. Further growth is anticipated through a tower build-out program, which is expected to bring the portfolio to approximately 175,000 towers.”
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