American Tower to Sell India Business in $2.5bn Deal

(Bloomberg) -- American Tower Corporation agreed to sell its operations in India to an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, in a deal worth about $2.5 billion to the US networking company.

The deal is expected to close in 2024’s second half, American Tower said. The US company struck a deal to sell the business to an infrastructure investment trust backed by an affiliate of Brookfield’s, it said.

The sale lets American Tower focus on its telecommunications tower and data center businesses in markets such as the US. Investment firm Brookfield is betting on growth in India, whose economy is outpacing that of other large countries and where smartphone usage is increasing rapidly.

American Tower started operations in India in 2007 and its portfolio in the country has since expanded to more than 75,000 towers, becoming its largest overseas business, according to its website. The company serves all the nation’s major telecom services providers.

Shares of American Tower are little changed over the past year, giving the company a market value of $100 billion. Citigroup and CDX Advisors are the financial advisers to American Tower.