Brookfield set to close $300-million pre-IPO round for Altius with domestic funds

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Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is advancing talks with domestic institutional investors to finalize a $300-million sell-down in Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust, with a closing expected later this month or early next month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The private placement will value the trust at around $5 billion, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private.

To secure the capital ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO), Brookfield is focusing its outreach on domestic financial institutions that already hold investments within India's infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) ecosystem. The transaction serves as a valuation-setting mechanism to establish a benchmark for the asset prior to its formal public listing, according to the second person cited above.

A clutch of banks including JM Financial Ltd, Axis Capital Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., Citigroup Inc., Jefferies Financial Group Inc., and Novaaone Capital Pvt. Ltd are said to be advising Brookfield on the transaction. News website Moneycontrol was the first to report on 9 March that Brookfield’s telecom tower InvIT planned to raise up to ₹9,000 crore through an IPO.

"We do not comment on market speculation or unverified reports," an Altius spokesperson said in an emailed response to Mint’s queries. Brookfield declined to comment.

Of the 28 InvITs registered in India as of June 2026, only eight are publicly listed and traded. However, the sector is poised for massive expansion. According to a November 2025 report by Crisil Market Intelligence, total assets under management (AUM) for Indian InvITs are projected to surge from ₹6.28 trillion in 2025 to ₹21 trillion by 2030, clocking a compound annual growth rate of about 27%. As of March 2025, India's InvIT portfolio was anchored firmly in core infrastructure, with roads commanding 39% of total AUM, followed by fibre networks at 35% and telecom towers at 14%.

Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust manages a telecom tower portfolio that supports digital connectivity across 22 telecom circles. The vehicle, originally established as Data Infrastructure Trust, has expanded its operations through a series of acquisitions managed by its sponsor, and its asset base includes entities such as Summit Digitel, Crest Digitel, and Elevar Digitel.

The InvIT listed its units on the BSE in September 2020, without launching an IPO. This followed an initial offer and private placement conducted under the the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) regulations for infrastructure investment trusts. Altius currently has a market cap of ₹51,806 crore.

Under the regulatory framework for private trusts, the units are not publicly traded by retail investors. The market structure restricts trading access to institutional entities and high-net-worth investors capable of meeting the mandatory large-lot subscription thresholds required for privately placed infrastructure investment vehicles. The planned IPO will alter this structure, permitting retail market participation on public exchanges via standard lot sizes.

As of 30 December 2025, Altius is the largest telecom tower group in India by number of towers, controlling roughly 40% of the country's total tower inventory, according to a report by Crisil Ratings.

In September 2024 it completed the acquisition of American Tower Corp's India operations for an enterprise value of around $2.2 billion along with institutional co-investors including British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and GIC Pte. The transaction added about 76,000 communications sites to its network, taking its total asset portfolio to more than 257,000 sites and raising its market share above those of domestic competitors including Indus Towers Ltd.

Brookfield acquired its initial stake in the infrastructure platform in 2019 from the infrastructure investment vehicle of Reliance Industries Ltd. That transaction valued the underlying telecom tower portfolio at about $2.6 billion, providing the Canadian asset manager with about 136,000 communication sites.

Agnidev is a business journalist with over two years of reporting experience tracking the intersection of capital, policy, and corporate strategy in India.<br><br>He joined Mint in December 2025, after a stint at NDTV Profit (erstwhile BQ Prime). At Mint, Agnidev focuses on the high-stakes world of the Indian capital market, specialising in mergers and acquisitions, burgeoning IPOs, and the investment banking industry.<br><br>Backed by a rigorous, data-driven approach, Agnidev frequently breaks news on the valuation cycles, deal pipelines and listing strategies of India’s most prominent companies. His reportage offers deep dives into the operational health of market leaders across the corporate landscape, providing readers with a clear-eyed view of institutional growth.<br><br>He has reported on major issues like India&#x27;s derivatives frenzy, IPO froth, the competitive quick commerce industry, the real-money gaming ban, and has broken investigative stories related to scandals such as IndusInd Bank&#x27;s accounting manipulation and the Gensol-BluSmart fiasco.<br><br>As a reporter, he brings stories that ultimately affect your stock market investments, and tries to bring clarity and brevity in a field that is often filled with jargon and noise.

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