In a significant move, Indian tower operator Indus Towers has expanded its portfolio by acquiring more than 16,000 towers. This expansion results from agreements with Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary, Bharti Hexacom. The transaction includes 12,700 towers from Airtel and an additional 3,400 from Bharti Hexacom, with the total deal valued at $379 million.
The company announced in a regulatory filing, “The Board of Directors have approved the acquisition of passive infrastructure assets/ telecom towers from Bharti Airtel Limited and Bharti Hexacom Limited, by way of slump sale.” A slump sale is the sale of a business unit as a whole for a lump sum payment.
This acquisition strengthens Indus Towers as India’s largest tower operator. The company now manages over 234,000 towers with more than 386,000 colocation sites. Established in 2007 by Bharti Infratel, Vodafone Essar, and Idea Cellular, Indus Towers emerged from their partnership. They later merged to fortify their position in India’s telecom market.
Furthermore, Vodafone Group recently completed selling its remaining 3% stake in Indus Towers. Proceeds of $105 million helped repay outstanding debts, while $225 million increased Vodafone’s ownership in Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea. Now, Vodafone holds a 24.39% stake, up from 22.56%.
In December 2024, Vodafone shared intentions to divest its remaining 79.2 million shares in Indus Towers through accelerated book-building. Earlier in the year, the telecom giant sold an 18% stake in Indus Towers for $1.78 billion.
