The Tata-Quippo joint venture (JV) is reportedly at advanced stages of negotiations with New York-based private equity (PE) fund Apollo Management to finance the acquisition of Aircel’s tower assets, should it win the bid.

The Tata-Quippo joint venture (JV) is reportedly at advanced stages of negotiations with New York-based private equity (PE) fund Apollo Management to finance the acquisition of Aircel’s tower assets, should it win the bid. Apollo is willing to provide about $1 billion to the Tata-Quippo JV to finance the deal, which is likely to lead to Apollo picking up a 30 per cent stake in the JV.

Reportedly, the Tata-Quippo JV has emerged as the frontrunner for the acquisition of Aircel’s 12,000 towers, valued at $1.2-$1.5 billion. The other bidders include Reliance Infratel, Global Telesystems and Indus Towers.