Overseas investors take 10 per cent in Brarti Infratel for $1 billion

Mumbai: International investors, including Goldman Sachs, Temasek, and Macquarie, have picked up a 10 per cent stake, worth $1 billion, in Bharti Infratel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.

Investment Corporation of Dubai, AIS Capital Management, Citigroup and India Equity Partners are among the other buyers.

Temasek Holdings is the largest investor in Bharti Infratel among all overseas funds.

The purchase values Bharti Infratel in the range of $10-12.5 billion. The final valuation, however, will be determined on the basis of Bharti Infratel's actual operating performance in FY 2008-09.

Bharti Infratel owns close to 20,000 sites in seven circles across the country. It also has another 29,000 towers as it holds approximately 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers, the recently announced joint venture between Bharti, Vodafone and Idea, which has over 70,000 towers.

Most of the mobile operators have hived off their infrastructure into a new company in a bid to unlock its value. Standalone tower companies such as American Tower Company, GTL, and Quipo have also jumped into the fray in a bid to take a share of the infrastructure segment.

India, the world's fastest growing market for mobile phones, has added more than eight million mobile subscribers in November 2007 alone. And, with a wireless subscriber base of nearly 225 million, network expansion in the country barely keeps up with demand.