GTL Infra gets $275 mn PE funding

PE WATCH

GTL Infrastructure (GIL) has received commitment of around $250-275 million (Rs 1,000-1,100 crore) from a global private equity investor.

"GIL has signed a stake sale deal with a leading institutional investor which has operations in the US, UK and Singapore. The deal is expected to be announced shortly, if not tomorrow," a well-informed source said.

The deal was signed today. But the source did not divulge either the name of the PE fund or the percentage of stake divested.

GIL is a subsidiary of network services provider GTL and is a provider of telecom infrastructure such as base transceiver stations (BTS).

When contacted, a company spokesperson declined to comment on the deal.

The telecom infrastructure provider intends to use the fund proceeds for its expansion plans, including setting up additional towers. GIL intends to take its total number of towers to around 25,000 in the next three years from the current 3,500 BTSes.

According to an industry analyst, telecom infrastructure is a growing business in the country and many foreign players are looking at investing in the sector.

Private telecom companies such as Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices have announced plans to hive off their tower businesses and sell stakes in them.

The mobile subscriber base is around 211 million and is slated to grow to around 500 million in three years. The industry has around one lakh towers and this will rise to around three lakh in the next three years, the source added.

This is the second stake sale in the GTL group after a clutch of foreign investors acquired a 49 per cent stake in Global Assets Holding (GHC), the holding company of GTL and GIL, for Rs 560 crore last week.

The investors included Singapore's SC Bank private equity fund, Mauritius' Technology Infrastructure and Park Holding Finance Corporation.

GHC is also the holding company of India Wireless Technology and Global InnovSource Solutions, two unlisted companies.