India: Bharti wins approval to create nation’s largest telecom

Bharti Infratel, the tower arm of leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel, revealed in a filing that its merger with Indus Towers to form the largest tower company of the country had received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Both the companies will now proceed to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the final approval to complete the merger.

“We are pleased to inform you that ‘no adverse observation’ letter has been received from the Stock Exchange for the proposed merger of Bharti Infratel Limited and Indus Towers Limited. The Company will file the first motion petition before the National Company Law Tribunal in due course,” Bharti Infratel said in filing at both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

The merger was announced in April 2018. While announcing the merger, Bharti Airtel stated that along with Vodafone, it would manage the merged entity. On July 25, Vodafone stated that it’s expecting the merger will receive all the necessary approvals by the end of 2018-19.

Bharti Infratel agreed to merge with Indus Towers in order to create the largest mobile tower operator, not only in India but across the world, except China, with over 163,000 towers across the 22 telecom circles in India.

Full Content: India Times

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