Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger gets CCI nod
02 Jul 2018
The competition commision of India has granted its approval the the merger of Bharti Infratel with Indus Towers.
Bharti Infratel is merging its operations with Indus Towers, which has Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular as its stakeholders.
The merger will create a $14.6 billion company, enabling it to emerge among the largest mobile tower companies globally with 1.63 lakh towers.
"Pursuant to Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, we are pleased to inform you that approval of Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been received for the proposed merger of Bharti Infratel Limited and Indus Towers Limited," the tower arm of Bharti Airtel said in a stock exchange filing on Monday.
The combined entity, which will fully own the respective businesses of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers will change its name to Indus Towers Ltd., and will continue to be listed on the Indian stock exchanges
The merger is expected to close before the end of the financial year 2018-2019.
The merger will enable the three telecom companies to monetise their stakes in the tower and also retain some control over tower networks.