ATC Telecom seeks conversion of debentures in India's Vodafone Idea worth $174 mln to shares

BENGALURU, March 19 (Reuters) - Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd said on Tuesday American Tower Corp (ATC) Telecom Infrastructure has requested conversion of debentures worth 14.4 billion rupees ($173.5 million) into equity shares.

Vodafone Idea said it will take necessary action to allot ATC 1.44 billion fully paid-up equity shares by converting its 14,400 optionally convertible debentures (OCD).

Debentures worth 16 billion rupees were issued to ATC in January last year.

Earlier this year, Brookfield Asset Management said it will buy ATC's loss-making Indian operations for $2.5 billion, becoming the country's largest operator of telecom towers.

($1 = 83.0104 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)