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Representative Image. Kolkata & New Delhi: Bharti Hexacom is likely to initiate a fresh valuation of its 3,400 telecom towers before inviting new bids from tower asset companies for their sale, said people with direct knowledge of the matter. The Bharti Airtel unit is likely to seek the bids through an open and transparent process in line with Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) guidelines and Sebi rules, the people said.
Advt Bharti Hexacom was recently forced to halt plans to sell the wireless communication towers to Indus Towers after objections from key shareholder, state-run Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd ( TCIL ). TCIL sought a fresh process that met its requirements as a government stakeholder. The tower asset sale, it is learnt, was also deferred following differences between Bharti and TCIL over the ₹33-lakh-per-tower valuation of Bharti Hexacom’s tower assets pegged by global professional services firm, Grant Thornton.
“In line with transparency and robust corporate governance, we have agreed to put the current (Bharti Hexacom) proposal in abeyance and initiate a fresh process as required by our significant minority shareholder TCIL,” a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, responding to ET’s queries. The Airtel spokesman, though, added that the company “remains convinced about the business logic and merits of the earlier (Bharti Hexacom) proposal” which got endorsement and strong support from shareholders and proxy agencies. TCIL, Indus and Grant Thornton did not respond to queries.
Airtel has a 70% stake in Bharti Hexacom, with the Centre, through TCIL, holding 15%. Bharti Hexacom offers mobile services in Rajasthan and the Northeast. Advt Under the original Indus Towers-Bharti sale deal announced in February, Indus was to buy a total 16,100 telecom towers from Airtel and Bharti Hexacom in a ₹3,308.
7 crore cash deal. Airtel was to sell 12,700 towers with Bharti Hexacom selling 3,400 towers. Indus acquired Airtel’s towers but the deal with Bharti Hexacom was put on hold.
Bharti Hexacom’s 3,400 premium towers are valued at nearly twice that of Airtel’s towers—₹17 lakh per tower—as they reach greater heights of 40 metres and above, offering wider coverage in the Northeast and Rajasthan circles. A person familiar with the matter said, “It remains to be seen if Indus can be given a right of first refusal (RoFR) once the fresh bidding happens, given that both Bharti Hexacom and Indus are now Airtel subsidiaries”. By Kalyan Parbat & Muntazir Abbas , ET Bureau Published On Apr 15, 2025 at 07:28 AM IST Telegram Facebook Copy Link Be the first one to comment.
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