Reliance Jio has received approval from NCLT to acquire Reliance Infratel Limited. Jio's tower business arm, Reliance Property and Projects Management Services Limited, will acquire Reliance Infratel Ltd. A few days back, Jio requested the NCLT to fast-track the process of approving the acquisition because of the fear of depreciating assets due to inter-creditor disputes. Jio had proposed depositing Rs 3720 crore in an escrow account in the State Bank of India (SBI) to complete the transaction. Jio had requested to acquire the infrastructure assets of bankrupt Rcom back in 2019. NCLT approval for the same has come now.
Reliance Infratel owns around 1.78 lakh route kilometres worth of fibre assets and 43,450 mobile towers across India. This will be acquired by Jio now as the NCLT approval for the move has been received. According to an ET Telecom report, Jio is going to deposit Rs 3500 crore in an SBI account. The creditors are yet to reach a consensus over how the funds raised via the acquisition will be distributed. Jio would have to wait much longer for the consensus to arrive, but that would have made the value of the assets deteriorate even further.
Jio will need the fibre and tower assets that Reliance Infratel Ltd owned significantly because it is trying to roll out 5G SA (standalone) fast throughout the nation by 2023.
