MUMBAI: National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIF), the India government-backed infrastructure fund, will acquire a majority stake in iBus Networks, a leading provider of in-building wireless solutions, for Rs 1600 crore ($200 million), said multiple people aware of the development. At present, Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure Fund owns a minority stake in iBus.
NIIF will acquire about 55-60% stake in iBus. Post NIIF investment, Morgan Stanley and the promoters will remain with the company and current management will run the business, said sources.
Avendus Capital is the advisor to the transaction.
iBus, founded in 2013 by Sunil Menon, Subash Vasudevan and Ram Sellaratnam, offers IBS (in-building sharing) and last-mile connectivity solutions, besides acting as a neutral connectivity infrastructure provider for mobile operators.
Mails sent to NIIF, iBus did not elicit any responses.
Vallabh Bhansali, founder of erstwhile Enam Capital and family offices of Naresh Nagpal and Sandeep Mehta are the early stage investors of iBus. Its client base includes Airtel, Bloom Energy, Croma, Jio, INOX, FBB and Vodafone Idea. The telecom infrastructure firm is present across 13 states in India.
iBUS IBS covers over 1 billion sq ft area and Wi-Fi delivers high-speed coverage for 160 plus million sq. feet, says a company website. iBUS claims to have provided digital connectivity solutions for over 300 IT parks, 200 hotels, 100 hospitals and 100 malls across the country.
Morgan Stanley’s North Haven India Infrastructure fund had acquired a minority stake in iBus for Rs150 crore in 2021. In its last round of fundraise, iBus had raised Rs 125 crore from Japanese financial services group Nomura in 2022.
Since its inception, iBus Networks has been expanding its presence through multiple acquisitions.
In January last year, iBus acquired a 100 per cent stake in Chennai-headquartered High Speed Internet Access (HSIA) services firm Microsense Private Limited, for Rs90 crore.
Microsense, a service provider in the hospitality sector, has presence across 20 major cities of India.
In August 2022, iBus had acquired certain Wi-Fi managed service assets of D-VoiS Communications to expand presence in education and co-living sectors.
In 2021, iBus snapped up telecom firm Ubico Networks from Shyam Group for Rs 100 crore. The all-cash deal included Ubico’s in-building and in-campus neutral-host infrastructure business and all related assets.
NIIF manages around $5 billion of equity capital commitments across its four funds: Master Fund, Fund of Funds, Strategic Opportunities Fund and India-Japan Fund.
In January, NIIF appointed Sanjiv Aggarwal – a former partner at UK infrastructure fund Actis, as its chief executive and managing director.
