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Canadian pension fund La Caisse acquired a 24 per cent stake with an investment of ₹12,100 crore in Altius Telecom Infrastructure Trust, the second largest telecom tower provider in the Indian market.
This comes as Altius has seen a surge in demand for mobile connectivity amid one of the fastest 5G rollouts in the world.
The investment comes ahead of Altius’s transition from a privately-listed infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) to a publicly-listed InvIT. It will be via a public listing through which it will raise around ₹6,000 crore.
The investment pegs the InvITs valuation at $5-6 billion, according to industry experts.
La Caisse, formerly known as CDPQ, which has assets of nearly $400 billion under management, will become a shareholder in Altius while Brookfield Asset Management, which owns the InvIT through two entities, remains the largest investor.
Anahera Investment Pte. Ltd, an affiliate of GIC Private Limited, and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, are other shareholders in the InvIT.
“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,” said Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice-president and head of infrastructure and sustainability at La Caisse.
Altius owns and operates more than 258,000 telecom towers and sites across India setting up infrastructure that enables mobile operators to deliver 4G and 5G services.
India is the world’s second-largest telecommunications market by number of subscribers, and continued growth in mobile data use and 5G is increasing the need for digital 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,” Sam Pollock, chief executive officer (CEO) of Brookfield’s Infrastructure group, said in the statement on Wednesday.
La Caisse’s entity, CDPQ Infrastructures Asia III Inc, got a nod from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the acquisition on Tuesday.
The InvIT filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator on August 6.
It specified that Anahera Investment Pte. Ltd, Rossland IMC Limited Partnership, and BIF IV Jarvis India Pte. Ltd would dilute their unit holdings in Altius through an initial public offering (IPO).
As of March 2026, BIF IV Jarvis India Pte. Ltd. held 49.85 per cent, Anahera held 23.88 per cent, BCI IRR India held 9.77 per cent and Project Holdings Nine (DIFC) Limited held 9.02 per cent. BIF IV Jarvis and Project Holdings are Brookfield-owned entities that are co-sponsors of Altius InvIT.
La Caisse’s acquisition in Altius means that Brookfield’s entity BIF IV Jarvis India Pte. Ltd has reduced its holding to 28.26 per cent from 45.34 per cent, in an on-market transaction executed over September 1 and 2, according to a Wednesday statement by Data Link Investment Manager, which is a Brookfield-controlled entity that acts as the investment manager for the Invit.
Industry watchers said that Altius would be required to file a fresh DRHP if it were to proceed with its plans to raise Rs 6,000 crore from the IPO. Altius competes directly with Bharti group backed Indus Towers, which is the largest player in the country with over 267,611 towers as of June 2026.
The Canadian fund’s investment into the Indian telecoms market signifies the long-term investment case for India’s telecom infrastructure and the broader growth of India’s digital infrastructure.
“For the sector, the bigger message is that the investment thesis is shifting from tower additions to network densification, 5G, data growth and the next generation of digital infrastructure. Even if headline telecom capex moderates, traffic growth and network requirements continue to create structural demand for infrastructure. The entry of a global institutional investor at this scale also strengthens the credibility of the Indian tower /infrastructure asset class,” a senior sector expert from a leading global consultancy said, asking not to be named as the transaction was specific to a particular company.
The investment also comes at a time when key telcos Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio were tapering their capex while laggard Vodafone Idea is expected to increase capex spending as it expands its 5G services, which is set to intensify pricing and tenancy competition between Altius and Indus Towers.
“Infrastructure companies will compete for new tenancies, but the differentiator will increasingly be the quality of footprint, ability to deploy quickly, tenancy economics and the ability to offer a wider infrastructure proposition, rather than simply the number of towers owned. So La Caisse’s investment increases Altius’ financial firepower at precisely the time when the competitive landscape could become more contested,” the sector watcher quoted earlier said.
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