Bharti Airtel to merge Indus Towers into Bharti Infratel and create the largest mobile tower entity
New Delhi, April 25: Bharti Airtel has approved to merge Indus Towers into Bharti Infratel to create the largest mobile tower entities worldwide with 1.63 lakh towers across 22 circles in India, a company statement said here on Wednesday.
The combined company will own 100 per cent of Indus Towers, it said.
Indus Towers was currently jointly owned by Bharti Infratel (42 per cent), Vodafone (42 per cent), Idea Group (11.15 per cent) and Providence (4.85 per cent).
The combined company, which will fully own the respective businesses of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers, will change its name to Indus Towers Limited and will continue to be listed on the Indian Stock Exchanges.
"Taken together, Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers had over 163,000 towers and 367,000 tenancies as on March 31, 2018. With over Rs 253 billion ($3.8 billion) in revenues (for the financial year ended March 31, 2018).
"The combined company will be well placed to invest on a national basis to satisfy the future demand from all telecoms operators in India as they continue to densify their networks to support sustained data traffic growth and roll out new network technologies," the company statement said.
"Indus Towers currently operates in 15 telecom service areas (Circles) and Bharti Infratel's operations are focused on the remaining seven Circles.
"The combination of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers, with their highly complementary footprints, will create a pan-India tower company with the ability to offer high quality passive infrastructure services to all operators on a non-discriminatory basis, needed to support the pan-India expansion of wireless broadband services using 4G/4G+/5G technologies," it added.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone will have equal rights in the combined company. They have entered into a shareholders' agreement and it is expected that the combined company's articles of association will be amended at completion to reflect some of these rights.
"Following completion, the Board of the combined company will comprise of 11 directors, of whom three will be appointed by each of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, one will be appointed by KKR/Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and four (including the Chairman) will be independent.
"The management team will be confirmed prior to closing," the statement clarified.
The transaction is subject to approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities, including from Competition Commission of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, National Company Law Tribunal, Department of Telecommunications (FDI approval), approval from Bharti Infratel's shareholders, necessary corporate approvals from the companies involved, as well as closing conditions.
The transaction is expected to complete before the end of the financial year ending March 31, 2019, the statement added.
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7 killed after bus overturns in Jharkhand's Hazaribag
Hazaribag (Jharkhand), Nov 21: At least seven people were killed and several others injured on Thursday, after a Patna-bound bus overturned in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district, police said.
The accident occurred near Gorhar Police Station area, around 50 km from the district headquarters, as the bus turned turtle while negotiating a sharp bend, a senior officer said.
Hazaribag SP Arvind Kumar Singh told PTI seven persons were killed, while some suffered serious injuries.
There were around 50 passengers in the bus, which was on way to Patna from Kolkata, another officer said.
Motichand Prasad, a passenger, said his wife Rajkumari Prasad was killed in the accident.
"We were asleep when the accident occurred in the morning. We boarded the bus in Kolkata on Wednesday for Bihar," Prasad, a resident of Bihar's Gopalganj, said.
Another passenger from Bihar Sharif, Ganesh Kumar, said the incident took place around 6 am.
"As the driver tried to negotiate a sharp bend, he lost control over the bus and the vehicle overturned," Kumar said.
A police officer present on the spot said around 10 injured people were in critical condition.
Sub-divisional Police Officer (SPDO), Barhi, Ajit Kumar, said only three bodies could be identified so far – Rajkumari Prasad (55), Niti Samanta (25) and Ejaz Ahmed (40).
“Four other bodies are kept at the morgue of Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital (SBMCH) at Hazaribag for identification,” he said.
Three critically injured persons were referred to Ranchi’s RIMS, while the others were being treated at SBMCH.
In a separate incident under the same police station area, two youths were crushed to death by a bus coming from behind.
The deceased were identified as Amit Kumar and Pappu Kumar, who were on a motorcycle when the bus struck the vehicle, an officer said.
