Airtel, Reliance Jio look to acquire RCom assets

MUMBAI: Bitter telecom rivals Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel, besides private equity firm Varde Partners and infrastructure-focused I Squared Capital fund, are set to compete for Reliance Communications’ assets, bids for which will be opened Monday.
“Monday is the last day for submitting bids and the bids will be opened on that day itself,” said a person familiar with the matter.
While Airtel and Jio are expected to bid mainly for RCom’s 850 MHz spectrum, I Squared Capital is likely to vie for the telco’s data centres and optic fibre assets. RCom’s 43,000 towers, housed under Reliance Infratel, are also up for sale.
According to people aware of the matter, UV Asset Reconstruction Company may also bid for RCom’s assets.