Reliance Global Unit Sale Imminent

Reliance Communications, one of India's largest telcos, is set to sell its global operations to a consortium of private equity firms as part of its restructuring process. (See Reliance Revamps Its Telco Assets.) In a note issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the operator admitted it is at an "advance stage" (or possibly even an advanced stage) of selling Reliance Globalcom, the operator's international transport network division, to a consortium headed up by Samena Capital. While a deal is not a certainty, Reliance notes that the "intended time line for completion is end of May 2013." The deal is significant for global telecom, as Reliance Globalcom's assets include one of the largest international subsea networks in the form of FLAG Telecom, along with the Ethernet services and managed VPN operations formerly known as Yipes Enterprise Services and Vanco respectively. The business has more than 200 carriers and 2,100 large enterprise users as customers. While no financial details were provided, Reliance noted that the divestment negotiations no longer included Middle East carrier Batelco Group, which had its eye on the subsea assets. -- Ray Le Maistre, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading