Slaughter and May is advising Vodafone on the merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers

Slaughter and May is advising Vodafone on the proposed merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers to create a pan-Indian tower company with over 163,000 towers and a pro forma equity value of c.INR965bn (US$14.6bn) that will be the largest of its kind outside China. 

Vodafone has agreed to merge its 42% shareholding in Indus Towers into Bharti Infratel.  Following completion, Vodafone will own 29.4% of the combined company, with its shareholding valued at c.INR284bn (US$4.3bn), and Bharti Airtel will own 37.2% of the combined company (assuming that Idea Group and Providence Equity Partners merge the majority of their Indus Towers shareholdings into Bharti Infratel for cash).

The combined company will change its name to Indus Towers and will continue to be listed on the Indian Stock Exchanges. Vodafone and Bharti Airtel will jointly control the combined company under a shareholders’ agreement.

The transaction is subject to approvals from regulatory authorities and Bharti Infratel’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions. Completion of the transaction is expected to take place before 31 March 2019.

Slaughter and May worked closely with the Vodafone in-house legal team and advised alongside S&R Associates, whose team is led by Rajat Sethi, Tanya Aggarwal and Raya Hazarika.

21 March 2019 - This transaction won an Asia Legal Award for M&A Deal of the Year: South Asia at the Asia Legal Awards 2019