American Tower’s US$1.2bn deal in India

ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited, a unit of American Tower Corp, will add an aggregate of approximately 20,000 communications sites to its existing Indian portfolio.

ATC TIPL has entered into definitive agreements with Vodafone India Limited and Idea Cellular Limited for the sites.

The aggregate cash consideration for the transactions is expected to be The Rs.78.5 billion (US$1.2 billion), is subject to customary closing adjustments.

As part of the transactions, ATC TIPL, Vodafone and Idea have established a preferred partner structure under which Vodafone and Idea will receive service level and process efficiency benefits.

In return, ATC TIPL will secure certain preferential rights for future new business commencements on its existing portfolio and on the sites being acquired in certain Indian markets.

Jim Taiclet, American Tower’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “We expect the addition of these two high quality portfolios to be highly complementary to our existing assets and to contribute to long-term leasing growth as India’s leading mobile operators accelerate their 4G network deployments.”

Amit Sharma, American Tower’s EVP and President, Asia and Chairman of the Board, ATC TIPL, added, “We are extremely pleased to partner with Vodafone and Idea to help expand mobile broadband services across India while furthering our participation in the Digital India initiative.”

The transactions are expected to generate approximately Rs.21 billion (approximately US$320 million) in property revenue and approximately Rs.8 billion (approximately US$120 million) in gross margin during their first full year in American Tower’s portfolio.

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of approximately 149,000 communications sites. fii-news.com