Ideas over sale of towers

India’s Idea Cellular is considering the sale of its portfolio of 7,500 towers that are not part of its tower owning joint-venture with Bharti Infratel and Vodafone Essar. The sale of the towers could be worth up to US$1 billion.

At the end of 2007, Vodafone Essar, Bharti Infratel and Idea Cellular merged most of their tower assets into a single holding company, Indus Towers – which now has around 70,000 towers under management. Vodafone Essar and Bharti own approximately 42 per cent each and Idea owns the remaining 16 per cent stake. However, each of the companies kept a portion of their towers outside the holding company.

"We have a portfolio of 7,500 towers that are outside Indus Towers. This portfolio covers some of our leading markets with significant value residing in them. But we also see it as a strategic opportunity and not just a value unlocking option," Himanshu Kapania, the designated chief executive of Idea Cellular told the Times of India.

Banking sources noted though that Idea Cellular will only sell its towers to an investor who has no strategic interest in towers.