The planned merger between Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers has been cleared by India’s National Company Law Tribunal.
Having cleared this hurdle, the merger now needs the green light from India’s Department of Telecommunications. Once it receives this – expected to be by the end of June – the companies will be clear to create one of the largest tower firms in the world.
Bharti Airtel agreed in April last year to merge its Bharti Infratel tower unit with Indus Towers. The merged unit will continue to use Indus’ name, and will be led by Indus CEO Bimal Dayal.
With around 163,000 towers in India, the unit will list on the country’s stock exchanges with a value of an estimated $12-$13 billion.
