The Hindu : Bharti to buy stake in Hexacom

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 13, 2003

Business

Business

Bharti to buy stake in Hexacom

NEW DELHI DEC. 12. Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti group today announced it would buy 27.5 per cent stake of Telesystem International Wireless (TIW) of Canada in Hexacom, a cellular telecom operator in Rajasthan.

The acquisition is subject to certain regulatory approvals and would cost Bharti Rs. 102 crores.

"Bharti has entered into an agreement with Telesystem (Mauritius) Pvt. Ltd., Mauritius, a subsidiary of Telesystem International Wireless Inc, Canada, to buy its equity interest in Hexacom India for a consideration of $22.5 million (Rs. 102 crores),'' a Bharti statement said here.

Mr. Mittal had said last week that his company would soon announce acquisitions in cellular telephony.

Interestingly, the company had also applied for a unified licence for the Rajasthan circle.

In Hexacom, Shyam Telecom has a 40 per cent stake and Telecom Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) 30 per cent. Hexacom claims to have more than two lakh cellular subscribers in the State.

Bharti said the sale, pursuant to the agreement, was scheduled to be finalised within next two months.

When contacted, other stakeholders in Hexacom like Shyam Telelink refused to comment on the deal.

Bharti also said it intended to consolidate its stake in Hexacom as and when the opportunity comes in its way. With this acquisition, Bharti would have presence in 16 circles.

Bharti last month had applied for six new unified licences in the circles including Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and J and K for which it had envisaged an investment of Rs. 700 crores in rolling out the network.

PTI

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