TPG consortium bids for Tata’s fiber arm

Bloomberg

A management consortium backed by TPG Capital has bid for a fiber telecommunications network controlled by India’s Tata Group, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The suitors offered $1 billion for fiber assets and related businesses owned by the Indian conglomerate’s Tata Teleservices Ltd. unit, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The consortium is led by Mukund Rajan, the head of international operations for Tata Group’s holding company, they said.
Some Tata Teleservices employees and another international fund have also joined the bidding group, the people said. Any deal will add to the $19.5 billion of private equity transactions targeting India companies that were announced last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Tata Teleservices has received multiple proposals for the fiber network, according to one of the people. The management consortium could face competition from Tata Communications, which said that it’s considering buying the enterprise business and fixed line assets of Tata Teleservices.
Data usage is booming in India after billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom unit stormed into the market with free offers for mobile Internet browsing. The fiber business of debt-laden Tata Teleservices includes an optical transmission network spanning 113,000 kilometres in the country, providing intra-city connectivity.