The news marks the company’s third deadline extension for the merger and follows approval from the Department of Telecom (DoT). At the time Bharti Infratel confirmed in a filing saying:
"...FDI approval for merger of Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel has been received late evening yesterday."
In an exchange filing, Bharti Infratel said that the deal’s progression will depend on the impact of the present adjusted gross revenue crisis.
"Since the other actions/conditions precedent to be fulfilled for the Scheme to become effective cannot be completed by the extended Long Stop Date i.e. February 24, 2020, the Board of Directors have further extended the long stop date till April 24, 2020, subject to agreement on closing adjustments and other conditions precedent for closing, with each party retaining the right to terminate and withdraw the scheme," said the company in the filing.
"The final decision to implement the scheme will be taken by the board keeping in mind the best interest of the company and its stakeholders including the assessment of the current crisis facing the telecom industry and the extent of its impact on the company's major customers."
The merger of both the tower companies is set to help Vodafone Idea divest its stake in the tower arm to generate funds as it seeks to pay down own debts of $14 billion after it lost a case in India’s Supreme Court in January.
This new entity is set to become the largest tower company outside of China with a predicted turnover of Rs crore of 25,000. The new company is set to save close to Rs 560 crore per annum.
The $14,6 billion merger was announced back in April 2018, bringing together over 163,000 towers operating across all 22 Indian telecoms circles.
