
Vodafone India and Idea Cellular have agreed to sell their tower businesses to ATC Telecom for INR 78.5 billion (USD 1.2 billion). This is part of Vodafone and Idea's planned merger.
The assets include around 20,000 towers around India with a combined tenancy ratio of 1.65x at the end of June. Around 6,300 are used by both Idea and Vodafone and will convert to single-tenancy agreements after the sale. ATC will remain a long-term supplier to the merged mobile operator.
The sale is expected to close in the first half of 2018. In the event it is completed before the merger of Vodafone and Idea, the former will receive INR 38.5 billion and the latter INR 40.0 billion in proceeds.