Small Indian Tower Operator Put Up for Sale by Owners:

A small Indian telecoms towers owner is reported to have been put up for sale by its owners.

Ascend Telecom was set up in 2002 and is backed by TVS Interconnect Systems and the New Silk Route private equity investors to provide passive infrastructure.

"Ascend is now talking to various investment bankers and will soon appoint one or two of them to scout for buyers," an unnamed source to the Economic Times newspaper.

The company owns around 4,500 towers which should be worth around US$400 million.

The company is thought to have struggled against the vastly larger rivals, most of which are backed by the mobile networks. The company tends to operate with a tenancy ratio of just 1.6 per tower, compared to an estimated break-even ratio needed of 2.5 tenants per tower.