Jio to offload towers to Brookfield-led group

A consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to acquire Reliance Jio Infocomm’s (Jio’s) tower division through a multi-stage deal, the Economic Times reports. Reliance restructured the ownership of its fibre and tower infrastructure earlier this year, transferring the assets to newly-established subsidiaries – Jio Digital Fibre Private Limited (JDFPL) and Reliance Jio Infratel Private Limited (RJIPL) respectively – with 51% stakes in each passed on to new Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) as the sponsor. Under the new sale deal, Brookfield would invest INR252.2 billion (USD3.66 billion) in the tower InvIT – Tower Infrastructure Trust – which would then use the proceeds to buy the remaining 49% stake, currently held by RIL. According to RIL, the transaction would be the ‘single largest foreign investment in an Indian infrastructure vehicle’.