BackPE firms to invest $500 million in broadband company ACT
India Value Fund III, the current majority shareholder of ACT, will be selling a significant portion of its holdings
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Bengaluru: Private equity firms TA Associates and India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) agreed to invest $500 million in Bengaluru-based broadband and communication services provider Atrium Convergence Technologies (ACT).
ACT, founded in 2000, is the country’s fourth largest wired broadband service provider and the largest non-telecom Internet service provider, with a reach of one million subscribers in the southern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. It offers high-speed Internet over fibre optics and high-definition television.
“We welcome TA Associates’ strategic and financial support, and are very pleased to partner with the firm. We are also happy that this transaction maintains our continued engagement with IVFA, which has played an instrumental role in envisioning and building ACT’s business," Bala Malladi, chief executive of ACT, said in a statement.
Naveen A. Wadhera, co-head of Asia at TA Associates Asia Pacific Ltd, and Dhiraj Poddar, co-head of India at TA Associates Advisory Pvt. Ltd, will join ACT’s board after the transaction is completed.
As part of the transaction, India Value Fund III, the current majority shareholder of ACT, will be selling a significant portion of its shareholdings. IVFA made the latest investment through Argan, a company controlled by Indium V, the India-dedicated fund of IVFA. IVFA is an adviser to Indium V and a manager of India Value Fund III.
“With high-speed broadband connectivity expected to increase meaningfully in India over the next five years, and with ACT’s history of building market share and meeting customers’ needs, we see significant opportunities for the company," said Wadhera.
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