iBus Networks and Infrastructure Ltd has acquired Ubico Networks from Shyam Group in an all-cash deal, the company said in a statement adding that as per the agreement signed, iBus Group has acquired 100% stake in Ubico Networks, its in-building and in-campus neutral-host infrastructure business and all related assets, for around ₹100 crore.
iBus was founded by Sunil Menon, Subash Vasudevan and Ram Sellaratnam, and raised first round of funding in 2015 from Vallabh Bhansali, chairman of Enam Capital and family offices of Naresh Nagpal & Sandeep Mehta. iBus offers IBS (in-building connectivity solutions) and last-mile connectivity solutions and acts as a neutral connectivity infrastructure provider for mobile operators. iBus currently deploys IBS infrastructure across 233 commercial and retail sites in India that help mobile operators to improve network capacity and coverage.
“iBus is on a mission to empower telecom companies and its consumers in utilizing 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. 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,” said Ram Sellaratnam, CEO & MD, iBus.
Ubico founders have completely exited the company while 33 employees of Ubico will be joining iBus.
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. Ubico’s 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 from Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure fund for its inorganic expansion and technology development of the platform.
