0		Aircel, sell, its, 12000, towers, Tata-Quippo, and, raise, cash

All roads lead to 3G. Only thing is telcos are short of cash. And they are doing everything they can to raise cash. Now, Aircel is believed to be in talks with Tata-Quippo to sell its 12,000 towers. Each tower is valued at 60 lakhs.

Reliance is believed to be giving 5-6% stake to China Mobile to raise cash just in time  for 3G auction. Aircel is the next in line which is looking to raise cash for 3G. And with this tower sale which is estimated to be at $1.2 billion it might get the much needed cash.

Many other players will also be interested in the Aircel’s towers. Indus Towers which is a joint venture Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and IDEA might also be interested. It has been a trend with the telcos to separate out telecom tower business. Reliance did it, Airtel did it much earlier, Tata and Vodafone did it and now it is Aircel’s turn.

Tata-Quippo which is a merger of Tata Teleservices tower arm of Tata Telecom Infrastructure with SREI group’s Quippo Telecom Infrastrucutre (QTIL). The combined entity has 22000 towers. The merger valued each tower at 70 lakhs. American Towers which bought Xcel Towers valued the towers at 40 lakh a piece.

Tower valuations have really come down from the highs of 1.2 crore per tower to 40 lakh per tower. 60 lakh per tower which Aircel is trying to get might be the right valuation and just might see it through 3G. After all, spectrum is more important than the towers

Suggested Reading : 13 Telecom Tower companies in India

Source : ET Intellegence Group