The Carlyle Group and TPG Capital are believed to be among the buyout firms currently in discussions with Reliance Communications (RCOM), with regard to purchasing a stake in its telecom towers unit.
Reliance Communications has also received interest from potential investors including Blackstone Group LP and Apax Partners LLP. The company had received “formal indicative offers from several interested parties” for its Reliance Infratel unit, it said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on May 31, 2011, without naming any bidders. The operator?s board approved taking the sale process to the next stage of due diligence, according to the release.
The company has been trying to sell the unit for about a year as it seeks to reduce debt. Prior to this, in June 2010, it was in “advanced talks” to sell about 50,000 telephone towers. The company may sell a majority stake in the unit.
