Brookfield keeps the largest stake while GIC and BCI stay on for India's 5G build
La Caisse has paid approximately $1.76bn, for a 24 percent stake in Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust, an Indian platform that owns and operates more than 258,000 telecom towers and sites.
The transaction is complete, La Caisse and Brookfield said in a joint release issued from Montréal and Mumbai on September 2.
Brookfield remains the platform's largest investor, alongside La Caisse and existing shareholders who are affiliates of GIC and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI).
Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice-president and head of infrastructure and sustainability at La Caisse, said in the release that India's growing economy and rising mobile data use are outpacing the infrastructure behind those connections.
Altius gives the group exposure to "an attractive market through an established platform," Jaclot said, alongside Brookfield and other institutional partners.
Sam Pollock, CEO of Brookfield's infrastructure group, said in the release that Altius operates a nationwide platform built around mobile connectivity and 5G infrastructure in India.
According to Pollock, Brookfield will continue to support it.
India is the world's second-largest telecommunications market, and rising mobile data use and 5G rollout are increasing demand for digital infrastructure, per the joint release.
Altius describes itself on its corporate site as the world's largest tower platform, with an installed base of more than 258,000 towers spanning ground-based and rooftop structures, lean towers, cell-on-wheels units, camouflage towers, in-building solutions, and small cells serving mobile network operators across India.
La Caisse held $552bn in net assets as at June 30, and invests for 48 depositors representing more than 6 million Quebecers, the release states.
The group opened its New Delhi office in 2016 and had $10bn invested in India as at December 31, 2024, concentrated in renewable energy and transportation assets, according to its own country page, which also notes it created a road infrastructure platform there in 2020.
La Caisse's infrastructure page describes the group as the largest institutional investor in infrastructure in the world, citing Infrastructure Investor's 2026 ranking.
The tower platform traces to December 2019, when Brookfield Infrastructure Partners disclosed binding agreements to acquire a 100 percent stake in an Indian tower company from Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited.
The portfolio held roughly 130,000 communication towers underpinning Reliance Jio's telecom business, Brookfield Infrastructure said in a Form 6-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Total equity came to US$3.7bn.
Brookfield Infrastructure put in about US$375m, per the filing, with institutional partners funding the balance.
