Norway’s Telenor Buys 60% Of Unitech Wireless
Norway-based Telenor, the world’s seventh largest telecom operator with a subscriber base of about 159 million, has bought a 60% stake in Unitech Wireless for Rs 6,120 crore, valuing the company at Rs. 11,620 crores. Incidentally, the company which holds licenses for 22 circles, is yet to roll out its services says Business Standard.
Telenor has operations in Bangladesh (where it is the largest mobile operator), Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand. With over 65 million subscribers in Asia, it is the fourth-largest global player in this market after SingTel, NTT DoComo and Vodafone.
Telenor plans to invest Rs 15,000 crore in the next three years and roll out services in the 22 circles, for which it has received a licence in phases.
Interesting, this deal is on the lower side as compared to other similar deals – Etisalat recently bought 45% in Swan Telecom for Rs 4,050 crore for 13 circles giving Swan an enterprise value of Rs 10,350 crore, while AV Birla group’s Idea Cellular bought BK Modi’s 40.8 per cent stake in Spice Communications for Rs 2,700 crore for just two circles with over 4.5 million subscribers.
This deal comes at a time when Unitech’s share price has taken a big beating, and the realty sector appears to be in jeopardy.
But, is this the right time to enter the Indian market? To me the market already seems crowded, and while it is among the few markets that is still growing, the fight seems to have shifted from subscribers to ARPU, and mobile number portability seems inevitable.
As the going gets tougher for the telecom companies, it spells even better times for the Indian consumer.
Related posts:
- Telenor Acquires Additional 7.15% Stake In Unitech Wireless
- Telenor To Inject Rs 6.2k cr Of New Equity In Unitech
- Telenor Scraps Rights Issue, Delays Acquisition
- DoCoMo Looks At Buying Stake In Tata Teleservices
- Bharti To Invest $300 Million In Warid Telecom
Filed under: Deal Tracker
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