 "After Viom exit, Srei eyes overseas markets for tower business")
After exiting from Viom Networks, Kolkata-based Srei group is looking to enter the telecom tower business once again outside India in geographies such as East Europe, Russia, West Asia and Africa through Quippo.
Quippo, a Srei Initiative, is currently in the business of equipment rental, operating in the verticals of construction, oil & gas, energy , valuation and auctioning of old equipment. In 2009, Quippo Telecom Infrastructure had entered into a partnership with Tata Teleservices to create Viom Networks.
"We have built expertise in the tower business, and we see there are good opportunities in other countries... Our tower business will be a completely independent venture under Quippo," said Sunil Kanoria, vice-chairman, Srei Infrastructure Finance.
In October 2015, Srei Infrastructure Finance announced selling its 18.26 per cent stake (jointly held by Srei and the Kanoria block) in Viom Networks to American Tower Corporation (ATC) for Rs 2,952 crore. Srei's consideration, including the non-compete fee, in the sale is Rs 1,790 crore; its investment in Viom was Rs 1,598 crore. Under the non-compete agreement with ATC, Srei cannot enter tower business in India.
In December 2015, Srei announced that BNP Paribas Lease Group, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the BNP Paribas Group, had decided to sell its 50 per cent stake in Srei Equipment Finance to Srei Infrastructure Finance. In exchange, BNP Paribas acquired a five per cent in Srei Infrastructure Finance, which will now be the parent company of Srei Equipment Finance.
Srei had assets under management of Rs 36,233 crore in the first half of 2015-16. In September 2015, the company's strategic investment pool was Rs 1,969 crore, which included investments in telecom, communication, transportation, rural infotech and energy. After the Viom deal is closed, the portfolio will be substantially reduced, which will help Srei improve its debt-equity and capital-adequacy ratios.
"Our focus will be on infrastructure growth. We expect 15-16 per cent growth in our core business next financial year," said Kanoria.