- Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley had invested Rs 150 crore in iBus Networks.
- Through this acquisition, Ubico founders will be exiting the company fully, while some employees of Ubico will be joining iBus.
- Cipher Plexis was the exclusive advisor for the acquisition deal.
Bengaluru-based iBus Networks & Infrastructure today announced, it has acquired 100% stakes in Ubico Networks for around Rs 100 crore (about $13 million) in an all-cash deal. Cipher Plexus Capital Advisors was the exclusive advisor for the acquisition deal.
The development announcement comes almost two weeks after it had raised Rs 150 crore ($21 million) from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure, a subsidiary company of US-based Morgan Stanley.
Through this acquisition, Gurgaon-based Ubico founders will be exiting the company fully while its 33 employees will be joining the iBus team to engage in their business operations, the statement said. Post-acquisition, iBus will become one of the largest neutral IBS companies with a PAN (present across nation) India presence covering every tier 1 city in the country, it said.
Speaking on the development, Ram Sellaratnam, CEO & MD, iBus, said, “With Ubico’s acquisition, iBus Networks will lead the way in providing neutral IBS and DAS infrastructure sharing with mobile operators, enabling them to serve their customers seamlessly.”
Founded in 2007 by Udit Mehrotra and Nitin Mehrotra, Ubico currently covers over 200 million sq. ft spread across 400 sites in 42 cities with an average tenancy of 1.5 spread across 600 buildings & campuses. The startup presence includes hotels, hospitals, IT parks, commercial office space, malls, and educational institutes, with many leading real estate developers across the country.
Sanjay Kapoor, an early investor of iBus, said, "It’s been gratifying to see the iBus management team execute on their vision of developing a nationwide footprint of in-building coverage and playing a leadership role in enhancing the quality of in-building networks. Strong and wide availability of such networks is a pre-requisite to adoption of fifth generation network in India."
Founded in 2010 by Sunil Memon and Ram Sellaratnam, and Subash Vasudevan, iBus is a Bangalore-based telecommunication services provider that offers in-building wireless solutions (“IBS”), outdoor small cells, and other last-mile connectivity solutions to mobile operators.
It currently deploys IBS infrastructure across 233 commercial and retail sites in India that help mobile operators to improve network capacity and coverage.
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