Essar Telecom Deal

Essar successfully closed the share purchase agreement with American Tower Corp. (ATC) to fully acquire Essar Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (ETIPL) in an all cash deal on August 06, 2010.

The transaction values ETIPL, one of India’s largest independent tower companies at that time, at an enterprise value of approximately USD 2.77 billion, and is subject to certain post-closing adjustments. The transaction represented the third tower acquisition in India by a member of the American Tower group since initiating operations in India in the fourth quarter of 2008.

ETIPL had a portfolio of 4,630 wireless communications tower sites, including a number of towers under construction. It operated across 14 of the 23 telecom circles in India and had an industry leading tenancy ratio of 1.9x.

The transaction helped transfer a vibrant tower company we built up, to a world class tower infrastructure company like American Tower, who had the potential to take it to new heights as a significant participant in the growth of the Indian telecom industry. The combined portfolio significantly strengthened service to India’s wireless telecom customers and enhanced their network coverage, enabling ATC to launch new technologies like 3G and WIMAX. Barclays Capital acted as Exclusive Financial Advisor to the Essar on this transaction.