Hutchison Essar, Spacetel deal done
Hutchison Essar has completed the acquisition of Essar Spacetel from the Essar Group, reports Our Bureau.
The company had signed an agreement for buying Essar Spacetel for $6m (Rs 26 crore) in September ’05. Essar Spacetel has pending applications for licences in seven circles of Madhya Pradesh, North East, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir where Hutchison Essar is not operating, it said.
Spacetel has not received the LoI from DoT for any of the seven circles.
Hutchison Essar has already completed the acquisition of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra circles, which it bought from BPL Cellular last year. With the acquisition of these Spacetel circles, Hutchison Essar will complete its India footprint, barring Mumbai.
For the Mumbai circle, the company is in a legal dispute with its JV partner, Essar Group, which owns BPL Mobile. The Bombay HC has ordered the setting up of an arbitration tribunal to resolve the dispute.
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