American Tower Corporation (ATC) is set to acquire a 51 per cent stake in Viom Networks, in a deal valued at $900 million-$1 billion. The deal is likely to be followed by the merger of ATC India with Viom Networks. Credit Suisse and Citi are the bankers to this deal.
At present, Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) has a 54 per cent stake in Viom Networks, while the Srei Group holds 18.5 per cent. The remaining 27.5 per cent is owned by a group of financial investors, including IDFC Private Equity, SBI Macquarie, Oman Investment Fund and GIC of Singapore.
The first phase of the deal is likely to entail Srei selling its stake and exiting Viom, while Tata Group reducing their holding in the company between 26 per cent and 30 per cent. The second phase of this process is likely to entail ATC merging its India portfolio of around 12,000 towers with Viom, which owns 42,000 towers in the country, marking a substantial consolidation in the telecom towers industry.
Further, in the future, it has been reported that the Tata Group would look to completely exit the merged ATC-Viom venture, after which ATC would like to raise capital through an initial public offering. The ATC deal would help the Tata Group reduce debt from its telecom business, while it will help Srei in investing into its other businesses, which include infrastructure development, and finance.
