Kolkata | New Delhi: Bharti Hexacom is likely to initiate a fresh valuation of its 3,400 telecom towers before inviting new bids from tower asset companies for their sale, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The Bharti Airtel unit is likely to seek the bids through an open and transparent process in line with Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) guidelines and Sebi rules, the people said.
Bharti Hexacom was recently forced to halt plans to sell the wireless communication towers to Indus Towers after objections from key shareholder, state-run Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL). TCIL sought a fresh process that met its requirements as a government stakeholder.
The tower asset sale, it is learnt, was also deferred following differences between Bharti and TCIL over the ₹33-lakh-per-tower valuation of Bharti Hexacom's tower assets pegged by global professional services firm, Grant Thornton.
"In line with transparency and robust corporate governance, we have agreed to put the current (Bharti Hexacom) proposal in abeyance and initiate a fresh process as required by our significant minority shareholder TCIL," a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, responding to ET's queries.
The Airtel spokesman, though, added that the company "remains convinced about the business logic and merits of the earlier (Bharti Hexacom) proposal" which got endorsement and strong support from shareholders and proxy agencies.
TCIL, Indus and Grant Thornton did not respond to queries.
Airtel has a 70% stake in Bharti Hexacom, with the Centre, through TCIL, holding 15%. Bharti Hexacom offers mobile services in Rajasthan and the Northeast.
Under the original Indus Towers-Bharti sale deal announced in February, Indus was to buy 16,100 telecom towers from Airtel and Bharti Hexacom in a ₹3,308.7 crore cash deal. Airtel was to sell 12,700 towers with Bharti Hexacom selling 3,400 towers. Indus acquired Airtel's towers but the deal with Bharti Hexacom was put on hold.
The Bharti Airtel unit is likely to seek the bids through an open and transparent process in line with Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) guidelines and Sebi rules, the people said.
Bharti Hexacom was recently forced to halt plans to sell the wireless communication towers to Indus Towers after objections from key shareholder, state-run Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL). TCIL sought a fresh process that met its requirements as a government stakeholder.
The tower asset sale, it is learnt, was also deferred following differences between Bharti and TCIL over the ₹33-lakh-per-tower valuation of Bharti Hexacom's tower assets pegged by global professional services firm, Grant Thornton.
"In line with transparency and robust corporate governance, we have agreed to put the current (Bharti Hexacom) proposal in abeyance and initiate a fresh process as required by our significant minority shareholder TCIL," a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, responding to ET's queries.
The Airtel spokesman, though, added that the company "remains convinced about the business logic and merits of the earlier (Bharti Hexacom) proposal" which got endorsement and strong support from shareholders and proxy agencies.
TCIL, Indus and Grant Thornton did not respond to queries.
Airtel has a 70% stake in Bharti Hexacom, with the Centre, through TCIL, holding 15%. Bharti Hexacom offers mobile services in Rajasthan and the Northeast.
Under the original Indus Towers-Bharti sale deal announced in February, Indus was to buy 16,100 telecom towers from Airtel and Bharti Hexacom in a ₹3,308.7 crore cash deal. Airtel was to sell 12,700 towers with Bharti Hexacom selling 3,400 towers. Indus acquired Airtel's towers but the deal with Bharti Hexacom was put on hold.
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