Pension fund La Caisse (formerly CDPQ) announced Wednesday it has invested $1.76 billion to acquire a 24-per-cent stake in Mumbai-based Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust, which owns and operates more than 258,000 telecom towers and sites across India.
With the transaction now complete, global investment firm Brookfield remains Altius’s largest investor, alongside La Caisse and existing shareholders who are affiliates of Singapore’s GIC and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), a La Caisse press release said.
Brookfield and BCI’s investment in Indian telecom tower assets dates back to 2020, when they purchased a 100-per-cent stake in a company previously owned by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited. They have since added to their tower portfolio with the 2024 acquisition of American Tower’s operations in India. The telecom infrastructure assets of the Brookfield-led consortium were subsequently combined under the brand name Altius in 2024.
In addition to its minority stake in Altius, La Caisse has also been investing in telecom infrastructure here in Canada. In a deal with Telus last year, La Caisse spent $1.26 billion to acquire a 49.9-per-cent stake in Terrion, which has a portfolio of nearly 3,000 Telus wireless towers. La Caisse is also among a group of investors who have purchased a minority stake in a Rogers subsidiary that holds a portion of the company’s wireless traffic transport infrastructure.
Speaking in reference to the pension fund’s investment in Altius, Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice president and head of infrastructure and sustainability at La Caisse, said in the press release: “As India’s economy grows and more people and businesses rely on higher use of mobile data, the infrastructure behind those connections needs to keep pace. This is a sector we know well through our investments in telecom towers and digital infrastructure around the world. With Altius, we are investing in an attractive market through an established platform, alongside Brookfield and other institutional partners with whom we have longstanding relationships.”
Sam Pollock, CEO of Brookfield’s Infrastructure group, said: “Altius has built a scaled, nationwide platform that is in a leading position to meet India’s demand for mobile connectivity and 5G infrastructure. La Caisse’s investment brings another long-term institutional partner to the platform and reflects confidence in the strength of the business. Alongside our partners, we will continue to support Altius’ next phase of growth by deploying our owner-operator capabilities and disciplined, long-term approach to infrastructure investing.”
