Indian operator Bharti Airtel is interested in acquiring spectrum and equipment from Reliance Communications (RCom), The Economic Times reports, citing an Airtel spokesperson. RCom is currently in a process run by its lenders to sell assets piece by piece to reduce its debt. “We have expressed our interest only in buying select spectrum and some equipment”, the spokesperson said.
Reliance Jio is selling spectrum in the 850 MHz band. According to the same source, Indus, Bharti Infratel and Canada’s Brookfield have also expressed their interest in acquiring RCom’s assets, including spectrum, network equipment and fibre.
According to two unnamed sources aware of the developments, lenders comprising local and international banks have hired SBI Cap to seek interested bidders for RCom’s assets. They add that request for proposals (RFPs) for assets including spectrum, network equipment and fibre assets have already been issued. “Expression of interest (EoIs) have come from practically everyone. Now, they have three weeks to submit non-binding offers - by December 12-13 - and then based on the numbers (bid value), the due diligence will take place”, one of the sources said. “An asset won’t necessarily be sold to just one company”, the person added.
According to a second source, Credit Suisse is also seeking investors interested in acquiring a majority stake in the rest of RCom, the entity that will comprise its undersea cable business, data centres and the enterprise business. SBI Cap and Credit Suisse declined to comment on the matter.
