TPG and Tillman Global Holdings have signalled they view the assets as worth about Rs 15,000 crore ($2.2 billion), including debt, after conducting due diligence on Reliance Communications's tower assets, down from the Rs 21,500 crore proposed earlier in the negotiations, according to the people. There's no certainty the talks will result in an agreement, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
Reliance Communications said the bidders had not reduced the enterprise value for the tower business by that amount. "The valuation being discussed for monetisation of our Tower business is in line with recent comparable transactions," Reliance Communications said in an e-mailed response.
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The firms are also considering scrapping a separate proposed purchase of Reliance 's domestic fiber-optic assets, according to the people. The Indian operator was seeking a valuation of at least Rs 8,000 crore for the backbone network, the people said.
Reliance Communications, reiterating its December 4 statement, said in the e-mail that the sale of the fiber-optic business to the private equity firms "would be explored in a separate and independent transaction after the tower deal is finalised."
The reduced offer, which would still be the biggest private-equity deal in India, is a setback for Ambani's Reliance, whose net debt stood at Rs 40,480 crore at the end of last year, company filings show. The company wants to reduce debt by no less than Rs 30,000 crore, it said in the e-mail.
Shares of Reliance Communications have declined 38 per cent this year and closed at Rs 55 on Thursday in Mumbai. Tillman Founder Sanjiv Ahuja didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment, while Luke Barrett, a spokesman for TPG, declined to comment.