Leading international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy represented the 13 underwriters in the US$760 million Indian IPO of Bharti Infratel, the telecommunications tower subsidiary of Bharti Artel, one of India’s largest telecommunications companies. The offering, which included international Rule 144A and Regulation S tranches, closed this month.
“This was the biggest Indian IPO since 2010 and the first in the country’s telecommunications tower sector,” said Milbank’s head of Asia corporate practice Anthony Root. Naomi Ishikawa, capital markets partner in Singapore, led the deal with support from associates Adrian Yeo in Singapore and Jason Frank in Hong Kong.
The deal involved complex issues of US and Indian securities law, arising from Bharti Infratel’s interests in Indus Towers, a telecommunications tower company formed through a joint venture among Bharti Infratel, Vodafone Essar Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd. The deal was underwritten by 13 banks, with DSP Merrill Lynch Limited, J. P. Morgan, India Private Limited, Standard Chartered Securities (India) Limited, and UBS Securities India Private Limited as Global Coordinators and Book Running Lead Managers.
“The execution of this IPO required the tackling of many challenging issues and involved a significant number of parties and advisors, including more than 13 underwriters and four selling shareholders,” said Ms. Ishikawa. “We are extremely pleased that the offering closed successfully and are privileged to have been involved in this important transaction.”
Other underwriters represented by Milbank included Book Running Lead Managers Barclays Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Enam Securities Private Limited, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited; and Co-Book Running Lead Managers BNP Paribas, DBS Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Limited and ICICI Securities Limited.
