Norwegian telco Telenor may consider increasing its stake in its Indian joint venture Uninor to 74%, should real estate company Unitech decide not to take part in a Rs82.5bn (US$1.62bn) rights issue, TelecomFinance has confirmed.
Telenor currently…
Norwegian telco Telenor may consider increasing its stake in its Indian joint venture Uninor to 74%, should real estate company Unitech decide not to take part in a Rs82.5bn (US$1.62bn) rights issue, TelecomFinance has confirmed.
Telenor currently owns 67.25% of Uninor while India’s Unitech controls the remaining stake.
Uninor recently got the green light from India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to conduct the rights issue. But this transaction has contributed to growing tensions between Telenor and Unitech.
Earlier this year, it was suggested that Uninor was seeking to secure funding from international banks, through a rights issue and debt offering, after failing to secure loans from local lenders because of a dried-up Indian debt market.
The rights issue was, however, brought to a halt after Unitech reportedly claimed that the transaction was not in the best interests of shareholders.
Now that the rights issue has been approved, Unitech, if it refuses to participate in the transaction, could see its stake in the JV being reduced to 26%.
Local reports also quoted the Norwegian operator telling the FIPB that it is also considering bringing in resident Indian shareholders. Telenor declined to comment on this rumour.
