PES look to exit ACT as work-from-home boosts value

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS ARE EYEING AN ENTERPRISE VALUE OF AROUND $1.4 BILLION

MUMBAI: The owners of Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd (ACT) are in talks to sell a controlling stake in India’s largest non-telco internet service provider amid a surge in demand for home internet services, two people aware of the development said.

Private equity firms True North and TA Associates, which own more than 90% in the company, are eyeing an enterprise value of around $1.4 billion, the people said on condition of anonymity. ACT had last raised $500 million from True North and TA Associates in 2015.

The plan is primarily aimed at providing a profitable exit to the two private equity investors by capitalizing on the internet boom spurred by the work-fromhome economy, one of the two people said.

“The discussions are at an early stage. They are in the process of appointing an investment bank to manage the sale and are in talks with a few foreign investment banks for this. They will be looking at telcos that want to add to their wired broadband services and foreign PE funds for the stake sale,” the person added.

Global investors have shown increased interest in India’s fastgrowing internet services business, as customers consume more data at home as they work remotely. The move by many households to switch from basic cable TV services to internetbased services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Hotstar is also fuelling demand for broadband internet.

On 29 July, Mint reported that sovereign fund Qatar Investment

Authority is in advanced talks with Reliance Industries Ltd to invest around $1.5 billion in an infrastructure investment trust that holds the unit Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd’s fibre-optic assets.

“This is the right opportunity to provide an exit to the private equity players that backed ACT Fibernet for long,” said the first person.

Emails sent to ACT Fibernet, True North and TA Associates remained unanswered.