The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it has cleared a proposal by Atlas 2022 Holdings to raise its shareholding in Vodafone Group Plc to less than 25% from 14.6% through a series of on-market and off-market transactions.
Atlas is a wholly-owned arm of Emirates Telecommunications Group company PJSC (e&). It was incorporated in February 2022 in the Cayman Islands for acquiring and holding e&’s current 14.6% interest in Vodafone, the regulator said in a statement. A detailed order will be released soon, it added.
e&, previously known as Etisalat Group, is a telecom operator headquartered in Abu Dhabi. It & provides services in countries across the Middle East Asia and Africa. “Neither Atlas nor e& has any physical presence in India (e& does not have any Indian subsidiaries). e& does not hold a licence to operate as a mobile network operator in India,” the CCI said.
Vodafone, a British telecom operator headquartered in Newbury, offers mobile and fixed-line connectivity services, as well as connectivity products and services to customers predominantly across Europe, Africa and Asia. In India, Vodafone is active in the telecommunications sector through Vodafone Idea and its step-down subsidiaries.