Temasek eyes Tata's mobile towers

MUMBAI - TEMASEK Holdings and wireless tower operator Crown Castle International are in talks to buy close to 15 per cent of the mobile phone towers business of Tata Teleservices, the Hindustan Times said.

Tata Teleservices said on Thursday it was in talks with several firms about spinning off its mobile phone towers into a separate unit, part or all of which could then be sold.

The paper, quoting investment bank sources, said yesterday that negotiations were at an advanced stage, and added that industry analysts valued the tower business at up to US$1 billion (S$1.52 billion).

A Tata Teleservices spokesman declined to comment on the report, but said Temasek held nearly 10 per cent of the firm, which has more than 5,000 mobile phone towers.

Tata Teleservices, along with subsidiary Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), has more than 15.5 million subscribers in India, the world's fastest-growing mobile market.

On Thursday, chief executive Darryl Green declined to name the firms that Tata Teleservices had talked to about spinning off the towers business, or its valuation.

Larger rival Reliance Communications has said it would spin off its towers business into a separate unit, and leading mobile services provider Bharti Airtel has said it would do the same.

Newspapers have indicated that American Tower, as well as private equity firms including Blackstone, Carlyle and Temasek, were interested in Reliance Communications' towers unit.

REUTERS