Japanese telco NTT Docomo is reportedly considering raising its 26% stake in India-based Tata Teleservices.
But according to local newspaper the Financial Express, Tata Tele itself is evaluating a potential buyback of NTT Docomo’s stake in the…
Japanese telco NTT Docomo is reportedly considering raising its 26% stake in India-based Tata Teleservices.
But according to local newspaper the Financial Express, Tata Tele itself is evaluating a potential buyback of NTT Docomo’s stake in the company.
NTT Docomo bought a 26% stake in Tata Tele for approximately US$2.7bn in 2008.
Under a shareholder agreement, the Japanese company reportedly has two call options, one in March 2012 and the other in 2014, which would allow it to become Tata Tele’s largest shareholder.
But Tata can also decide to buy out NTT Docomo’s stake in case the Indian company does not achieve certain performance benchmarks, explains the Financial Express.
In recent months, NTT Docomo has been increasing its stakes in several subsidiaries in order to extract value from them.
A few months ago, it upped its interest in local mobile broadcaster mmbi by about 10% to 60.45%. Before that, in May 2011, it bought an additional 2% stake in Philippine telco PLDT.
Tata Tele and NTT Docomo were not available for comment before going to press.
