ATC India buyout to lend more ammo to Canada's Brookfield to fight Indus Towers
They added that Brookfield’s acquisition of ATC’s 78,000-odd towers in India would also boost Reliance Jio’s 5G rollout and expansion, especially since the Mukesh Ambani-led telco is already the anchor tenant of the Canadian tower company in India.
“The ATC India buyout will give Brookfield a larger tower footprint and more ammo to compete with Indus, and likely result in both tower companies offering a combination of new products such as in-building solutions (IBS) as well as attractive rental deals/discounts while negotiating long-term tower contract renewals with large telco clients in future,” Rohan Dhamija, head (India & Middle East) at management consulting firm, Analysys Mason, told ET.
He, though, added that Brookfield’s acquisition of ATC India would pave the way for two dominant towercos in a 3-player telco market, which is the ideal competitive structure, in that, it will ensure an overall balance with regard to pricing power between the telcos and towercos.
Earlier this month, Brookfield trumped infrastructure investment group I Squared Capital to buy 100% ownership in ATC India in a $2.5-billion (about Rs 21,000 crore) all-cash deal likely to close in the second half of 2024. The deal had marked Boston-ATC’s exit from India, unleashing fresh consolidation in the country’s tower sector, now reduced to two large players — Brookfield and Indus.
