Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure has made an investment of Rs 150 crore (USD 21 million) to acquire a stake in tech firm iBus, a statement said. The quantum of the stake purchase was not disclosed.
iBus offers in-building wireless solutions (IBS), outdoor small cells and other last-mile connectivity solutions to mobile operators to enable them to serve their customers seamlessly.
The company currently deploys its infrastructure across 233 commercial, residential and retail sites across the country with tenanted area of 276 million sq ft.
Founded in 2013, iBus previously raised capital from a number of investors and family offices.
“We at iBus welcome Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure as an equity partner for the strength of experience in helping companies build scale.
“Connectivity is fundamental to large developing digital economies like India and our mission is to build an end-to-end intelligent, scalable and convergent connectivity ecosystem,” iBus co-founder and CEO Ram Sellaratnam said in the statement.
With this investment, iBus will build scale and eliminate inefficiencies to fast track the essential digitalisation of the economy, he added.
Cipher-Plexus Capital Advisor was the exclusive advisor for the transaction.
“We are excited to partner with a management team that is establishing itself as the in-building solutions partner of choice for telecom operators.
“Our investment will allow iBus to drive consolidation and scale in a fragmented industry while enhancing the mobile user experience,” said Raja Parthasarathy, managing director and co-head of Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure.
Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure is the India infrastructure investing platform of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.
Morgan Stanley India Infrastructure has also invested in Unison Enviro (a city gas distribution company), HealthMap Diagnostics (diagnostic imaging) and LEAP India (which provides supply chain solutions).
