DIT becomes India's largest mobile tower firm with ATC India acquisition

New Delhi: Data Infrastructure Trust on Thursday said it has pipped Indus Towers to become India's largest mobile tower company after acquiring American Tower Corporation's operations in the country. Data Infrastructure Trust (DIT) is backed by Brookfield Asset Management along with affiliates of investors including British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and GIC.

The firm acquired 100 per cent of American Tower's operations in India comprising the buyout of approximately 76,000 communications sites in India for an enterprise value of Rs 18200 crore or about $2.2 billion. "With this acquisition, the Brookfield-led consortium reinforces its commitment to connecting India with an expanded portfolio of 257,000 telecom sites," DIT said in a statement.

DIT's Telecom Infrastructure portfolio will be housed under the new brand name Altius. Bharti Group owned Indus Towers had a portfolio of 2,25,910 as of June 30, 2024. ATC India is Brookfield's third acquisition in the Indian telecommunications space. In 2022, Brookfield acquired a portfolio of 6,300 indoor business solution sites and small cell sites.

Brookfield also has a portfolio of approximately 175,000 towers that were acquired in 2020 from Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited. In India, Brookfield has approximately $29 billion in assets under management across infrastructure, real estate, renewable power and transition and private equity.