Tata Teleservices has announced the long-awaited details of the merger of its tower division with a Srei group subsidiary.
The Economic Times reports that under the arrangement, Tata Tele subsidiary Wireless Tata Telecom Infrastructure (WTTI) will merge with Srei group subsidiary Quippo Telecom Infrastructure.
Quippo will transfer ownership of its 5,000 towers to WTTI will then pay 24 billion rupees ($494.9 million) for a 49% stake in the new venture.
Due to the credit crunch, the new venture has been valued at $2.4 billion, well short of the $4.5 billion estimates made last year.
The venture will own around 18,000 towers, and will compete with Indus Towers - the three-way venture between Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular.
The merger was announced last June.
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