Refuting published reports, Indian telecom services provider, Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday said it has ‘no desire’ to raise its stake in Indus Towers. “[Bharti Airtel] has no desire to raise its stake beyond what is required for financial consolidation of Indus in the company, which shall be done as and when appropriate with compliance of applicable disclosure requirements,” Airtel said in a statement.
Economic Times previously reported that Airtel was in talks to buy U.K.-based Vodafone Group’s (NASDAQ: VOD) holdings in Indus Towers. The report said that such a deal would have potentially given Airtel a controlling interest in the tower company. According to Inside Towers Intelligence, Indus Towers is the largest tower company in India with 211,775 towers as of the end of 2023. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, India’s second and third largest MNOs, respectively, are Indus Towers’ main customers. Vodafone Idea accounts for 35-40 percent of the tower company’s revenue.
Currently, Airtel is the biggest shareholder in Indus Towers with a 47.95 percent stake while Vodafone Group holds 21.05 percent and 30.07 percent is with public shareholders. If Airtel bought Vodafone’s share, then Airtel would become Indus Towers’ majority owner with 69 percent.
Economic Times’ report speculated that if Vodafone sold its stake in Indus to Airtel, then Vodafone could apply some of the proceeds to help its Indian partner, Vodafone Idea, resolve some of its financial struggles.
“Indus is a provider of critical infrastructure services to the telecom industry and Airtel relies heavily on it. Airtel will therefore always ensure that Indus remains in robust health and financially stable,” Airtel said in its statement.
Airtel has also said Indus Towers is better off operating as an independent organization and that Airtel will pare its stake over time, according to Economic Times.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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