Ambani confirms plan to sell Reliance Infratel

Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani on Tuesday said the company is in talks with many consortia to sell its telecom tower unit Reliance Infratel in what could be biggest private equity deal in the country.

Addressing the shareholders at RCom AGM, Ambani also said the promoters plan to raise their stake in the flagship company to 75 per cent from the current 67.9 per cent.

"We are in the advanced stages of negotiations with a number of consortia which have expressed great interest in this very valuable asset, and I am sure that we will be able to move forward expeditiously.

"When we hopefully conclude the Reliance Infratel transaction, it will be the largest private equity transaction in the history of this country," Ambani told shareholders at the AGM in Mumbai.

Despite posting a loss, the company has declared a modest dividend.

At present, it has an annual interest burden of over Rs 679 crore (Rs 6.79 billion) on a debt of around Rs 32,000 crore (Rs 320 billion).

The company also hopes to maintain its debt at substantially lower levels, Ambani added.

The development comes amid reports that private equity giants Blackstone and Carlyle Group have jointly expressed an interest to bid for Reliance Communications' tower business.

At the AGM, the shareholders also approved issue of equity shares of RCom to qualified institutional buyers and raising of resources through issue of securities in the international markets.

Besides, the company also received the shareholders' nod for appointment of J Ramachandran as a Director and adoption of full-year financial statements for 2010-11.

The shareholders also approved appointment of a Manager of the company and that of the auditors.