Reliance Industries in talks with several investors for tower, fibre InvIT

Reliance Industries (RIL) is in talks with several investors to raise funds via infrastructure trust of tower and fibre assets, sources told CNBC-TV18.

The company is looking to raise Rs 80,000 crore via a private InvIT listing of telecom infra assets, said the sources, who did not want to be named, adding that it is in talks with investors like GIC, Omers, Allianz and several Canadian pension funds like Brookfield.

The company is expected to complete private InvIT of telecom tower, fibre this year, as per the sources.

Reliance Industries is working on two separate infrastructure trusts to deleverage telecom infra assets like tower and fibre. InvIT have become a useful instrument for capital intensive sectors like telecom.

This fundraising process will solve many purposes for the company. Apart from deleveraging of balance sheet, much to the comfort of the company and its lenders, it will also enable the company for a larger 5G play.

Experts also point out that in the cash-hungry telecom sector, telecom tower professionally run by the InvIT structure will also give greater comfort to the other competing telecom companies to give business to this tower to improve the business and feasibility.

Reliance Industries has a debt of over Rs 2.5 lakh crores and half of that is estimated to be on account of Reliance Jio.

When contacted the company, it said, “As a policy, we do not comment on media speculation and rumours. Our company evaluates various opportunities on an ongoing basis.”

GIC, Brookfield, Omers, Allianz are yet to respond to CNBC-TV18's query.

 

: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.