Private equity firm New Silk Route (NSR), which owns a majority stake in telecom tower company Aster Infrastructure, has initiated talks with the Ruias-owned Essar Telecom Infrastructure (ETIL) for a merger. If the deal goes through, NSR will get a stake in the combined tower company. Besides, NSR and ETIL will then look for joint placement or stake sale in the combined entity, a top executive familiar with the development told ET. The Ruias had recently appointed Barclays Capital to find out strategic partners or offload a stake in its tower arm. Executives tracking the deal said that in addition to NSN-owned Aster, the Essar Group is also in talks with two other strategic investors for a stake sale or even a complete sale of its tower assets. […]