Units to be issued by Tower infra trust

Reliance Industries’ wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL) has entered into binding agreements with Brookfield Infrastructure and its institutional partners for an investment of ₹25,215 crore in the units to be issued by the RIIHL sponsored Tower Infrastructure Trust.

After the deal is closed, the Canadian alternative assets manager, Brookfield and its partners would become sponsors of the trust, holding 100% of India’s largest telecom tower company with 130,000 towers, while the RIL subsidiary would become a co-sponsor, but will hold no units, the company said in a statement. RJIPL has plans to build additional towers and the total number of towers is expected to reach approximately 1.75 lakh, with Jio as an anchor tenant of the tower portfolio under a 30-year Master Services pact Agreement.

Commenting on the deal, RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani, CMD of RIL said, “We are confident of Brookfield’s abilities to manage this large portfolio of high-quality infrastructure assets and further enhance value creation opportunities. This transaction demonstrates the belief of global investors in the potential of India’s digital opportunity.”

RIL shares declined 1% to ₹1,566.55 on the BSE on Monday.

(With PTI inputs)