Bharti Airtel is in talks with Vodafone Plc to acquire an additional 3% stake in Indus Towers, the country’s largest mobile tower firm, CNBC-TV18 reported on Monday, citing sources. If the deal materialises, Bharti Airtel will have a controlling 52% stake in Indus.
Last week, Vodafone sold 18% stake in Indus Towers in block deals for nearly Rs 15,300 crore. After the block deals, Vodafone has a 3.1% stake in Indus Towers.
Bharti Airtel bought a 1% additional stake in Indus Towers in the block deal, taking its holding in the tower company close to 49%.
Bharti Airtel also plans to merge its high-growth data centre business Nxtra with Indus Towers, as a part of its mega plan, a two-pronged strategy to consolidate its business, according to the CNBC-TV18 report.
Indus Towers has indicated that Vodafone’s total outstanding dues are nearly Rs 5,400 crore. The report stated that Vodafone will use a large part of the deal’s proceeds to pay these dues.
The merger of the business would provide an exit to the US-based private equity firm, Carlyle, which owns a 24% stake in Nxtra. Carlyle had acquired this stake in 2020.