iBus Networks and Infrastructure Limited has acquired Ubico Networks from Shyam Group in an all-cash deal. As per the agreement signed, iBus Group has acquired 100 per cent stake in Ubico Networks, its in-building and in-campus neutral-host infrastructure business and all related assets, for around Rs 1 billion.
Ubico founders have completely exited the company while 33 employees of Ubico will be joining iBus. Post this acquisition, iBus will become one of the largest neutral IBS companies with a pan India presence covering every Tier 1 city in India.
Cipher Plexis was the exclusive advisor to the transaction.
Ubico currently covers over 200 million sq. ft spread across 400 sites in 42 cities with an average tenancy of 1.5 spread across 600 buildings & campuses. Ubico’s spread includes hotels, hospitals, IT parks, commercial office space, malls and educational institutes, with many leading real estate developers across the country.
iBus recently raised $21 million from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure fund for its inorganic expansion and technology development of the platform.
Commenting on the development, Ram Sellaratnam, CEO & MD, iBus, said, “iBus is on a mission to empower telecom companies and its consumers in utilizing the power of data as India gets ready to board the 5G bus. Our data consumption pattern is one of the highest in the World. With Ubico’s acquisition, iBus Networks will lead the way in providing neutral IBS and DAS infrastructure sharing with mobile operators, enabling them to serve their customers seamlessly.”
Meanwhile, Udit Mehrotra of Shyam Group, said, “We are proud of the value we have created along with our team. We are happy to have found like-minded promoters and management in iBus Networks that have attracted world-class advisors and reputed investors like Morgan Stanley. We believe that our customers and real estate partners will be well cared for with this transaction, and we are thankful to them for helping Ubico establish a new industry in the country.”
Further, Heera Girish, CFO, iBus believes that the combined entity of iBus & Ubico would lead to more consolidation in this space, delivering value & efficiency to all stakeholders.
Moreover, Sanjay Kapoor who has been an advisor & investor to iBus since its early days, said, ”Unlike voice, 80 per cent of data gets consumed indoors. Without effective in-building coverage, both data monetization and customer experience remain suboptimal. It’s been gratifying to see the iBus management team execute on their vision of developing a nationwide footprint of in-building coverage and playing a leadership role in enhancing the quality of in-building networks. Strong and wide availability of such networks is a pre-requisite to adoption of fifth generation network in India.”
Post this divestment, Shyam Group will continue to focus on its other core businesses which include Shyam Spectra and VNL. Shyam plans to expand the group’s presence and strengthen the portfolio of offerings in the group’s successful network-as-a-service company Spectra. It also intends to look at investment opportunities in new-age start-ups focused on offering business solutions. Spectra has evolved to become a partner of choice for organizations for their end-to-end network requirements, especially since the pandemic. The group will recalibrate the efforts to fortify its market position by expanding presence across India and into sunshine sectors.
