iBus backed by Morgan Stanley acquires Ubico Networks

iBus Networks and Infrastructure Ltd said on Tuesday it has acquired Ubico Networks from the Shyam Group in an all-cash deal.

As per the agreement signed, iBus Group has acquired 100 per cent stake in Ubico Networks, its in-building and in-campus neutral-host infrastructure business and all related assets for around Rs 100 crore.

"iBus is on a mission to empower telecom compes and its consumers in utilising the power of data as India gets ready to board the 5G bus. Our data consumption pattern is one of the highest in the world," said Ram Sellaratnam, CEO and Managing Director of iBus.

"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."

Heera Girish, Chief Financial Officer at iBus, said the combined entity of iBus and Ubico will lead to more consolidation in this space, delivering value and efficiency to all stakeholders.

Ubico founders have completely exited the company while 33 employees of Ubico will be joining iBus. Post this acquisition, iBus will become one of the largest neutral IBS compes with a pan India presence covering every tier one city in India.

Cipher Plexis was the exclusive advisor to the transaction.

Ubico currently covers over 200 million square feet spread across 400 sites in 42 cities with an average tenancy of 1.5 spread across 600 buildings and campuses.

The spread includes hotels, hospitals, IT parks, commercial office space, malls and educational institutes with many leading real estate developers across the country.

iBus recently raised 21 million dollars (about Rs 157 crore) from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure fund for its inorgc expansion and technology development of the platform.

( With inputs from ANI )