British giant Vodafone is reportedly looking to snap up small Indian mobile operator Loop Mobile pending the renewal of its licence, due to expire in September 2014.
The Khaitan family, which owns Loop, is expecting a US$500m valuation for the company,…
British giant Vodafone is reportedly looking to snap up small Indian mobile operator Loop Mobile pending the renewal of its licence, due to expire in September 2014.
The Khaitan family, which owns Loop, is expecting a US$500m valuation for the company, CNBC-TV18 said, quoting unnamed sources.
A deal would enable Vodafone, which already owns large operator Vodafone India, to boost its presence in the Mumbai area.
The future or Loop in India’s overcrowded mobile market has been in the spotlight for a few months now, with parties especially interested in its precious 900 MHz spectrum.
In September 2013, reports suggested that India’s largest wireless player Bharti Airtel was interested in the spectrum. At the time, a Bharti spokesman dismissed the report as “purely speculative.”
Meanwhile, Vodafone was recently reported to be in early discussions with the Tata Group for the acquisition of its majority stake in mobile unit Tata Teleservices.
Buying the Tata Teleservices stake would allow Vodafone to become India’s largest telco with more than 220 million customers, overtaking Bharti Airtel’s 195 million subscribers.
Vodafone and Loop could not be reached for comment before the press deadline.
