Axiata Group Berhad is eyeing to pick up stake in mobile tower infrastructure firms in order to boost its market presence in India.
The Malaysian telecom giant that aims to transform into a digital company by 2020, has apparently entered into initial discussions with Indian service providers for a possible acquisition.
Indian telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are already looking to sell their stakes in tower entities to reduce debt which stands at more than Rs 450 billion on entire sector.
The Kuala Lumpur-based operator has a minority stake in Idea Cellular, and with Vodafone and Idea merging their mobile service business, Axiata’s stake in the combined entity would come down further.
India’s tower infrastructure business is mainly dominated by Indus Towers, Bharti Infratel and American Tower Corporation.
Axiata added that its next course of action, if any, would be based on the outcome of a comprehensive analysis based on the principles above which could maximise the benefits to the shareholders of Axiata.
The company’s tower arm edotco is one of the leading infrastructure providers in the region with investments in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Cambodia.
By Baishakhi Dutta
