RCOM puts its plans to offload stake in Reliance Infratel on the backburner

Reliance Communications? (RCOM) plans to offload stake in Reliance Infratel has reportedly been deferred for the time being, say news reports.

Selling a stake in Reliance Infratel has been on RCOM?s agenda for a while now, especially since it is on a sticky financial wicket. The company is currently under debt of around 358.4 billion.

Prior to this, it is believed that the company had initiated discussions with private equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle in late 2011 and the deal was to be closed in January this year. Thereafter, after several rounds of negotiations, the private equity majors had reportedly signed a term sheet to pick up stake in the tower company. The value of the deal is estimated to be around Rs 150-200 billion.

Now, RCOM is reportedly waiting for the government?s stand on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India?s (TRAI) guidelines on the Auction of Spectrum, after which, it will move towards closing the deal.