Data Infrastructure Trust, an Indian infrastructure investment trust sponsored by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., has signed an agreement to acquire American Tower Corp’s operations in India for a total of Rs 21,000 crore ($2.5 billion).
The total cash proceeds include an enterprise value on the ATC India operations of about $2.0 billion (Rs 16,500 crore), plus a ticking fee that accrues from Oct. 1, 2023, to the date of closing, ATC said in a statement.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including government and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second half of 2024.
ATC plans to use the proceeds from the transaction to repay its existing debt.
This will be Brookfield’s third acquisition in the Indian telecommunications space and one of the largest deals in India's infrastructure sector. In 2022, the Canadian alternative asset manager acquired a portfolio of 5,000 indoor business solution sites and small cell sites. Brookfield also has a portfolio of roughly 175,000 towers that were acquired in 2020 from a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd.
ATC India's portfolio comprises 78,000 sites across India. The acquisition will diversify Data Infrastructure’s revenue and increase touch points with all mobile network operators in India. It will also help Brookfield overtake Indus Towers as India's largest operator of telecom towers.
“We look forward to expanding and enhancing our existing telecom tower portfolio in India, which enables a broader array of solutions for our customers and partners,” said Arpit Agrawal, managing director and head of infrastructure for India and the Middle East at Brookfield. “Through strategic acquisitions like ATC India, we remain deeply committed to empowering digital connectivity and transforming the telecom infrastructure landscape across the region.”
In India, Brookfield has about $25 billion in assets under management across infrastructure, real estate, renewable power and transition, and private equity.