Tata Communications to increase stake in Neotel (India)
Tata Communications is considering raising its stake in South Africa-based Neotel by 2.5 per cent. The company intends to buy stake from Tata Africa for $18 million. The acquisition will increase Tata Communications’ share in Neotel to 66.6 per cent. The company has sought government approval for the planned acquisition.
BSB acquires 49 per cent stake in Y2CF
Bharti SoftBank Holdings (BSB), a joint venture between Bharti Airtel and Japan-based SoftBank Corporation, has acquired a 49 per cent stake in Gurgaon-based value-added services company Y2CF. BSB has the option to acquire the remaining stake at a future date. The deal has been valued at around Rs 400 million.
Fino acquires Nokia’s mobile payment services business
Financial inclusion facilitating firm Fino has acquired Nokia’s mobile payment services business in India in an all-cash deal. The deal value has, however, not been disclosed. The acquisition will enable Fino to move beyond banking services into the payments domain and directly engage with customers. The company has established a new entity, Alpha Payment Services India Private Limited, to manage the recently acquired business, which will provide services such as money transfers, utility bill payments, and mobile and DTH recharges.
NTT DOCOMO to increase its stake in TTSL
Japan-based NTT DOCOMO is considering increasing its stake in Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) from 26 per cent to 35 per cent. The company is considering exercising the call option included in the agreement signed between both entities in 2008. Currently, the Tata Group owns around 60 per cent stake in the telecom venture, while Singapore-based Temasek and Chennai-based investor C. Sivasankaran hold 7 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. NTT DOCOMO has till end-July 2012 to exercise its call option and acquire the stake at a price decided in 2008. Otherwise, the company will be able to acquire it in March 2014, when the price will be renegotiated.
Reliance Globalcom sets price range for IPO (Singapore)
Reliance Communications’ (RCOM) submarine cable arm, Reliance Globalcom, has decided a price range for its initial public offering (IPO) in Singapore. The operator plans to sell between 642.2 million and 757.6 million units at a price of $1.09-$1.32 per unit. RCOM is looking to raise $1 billion-$1.5 billion from the issue, which would help in the partial retirement of its debt.
Qtel to double its stake in Asiacell (Qatar)
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has reached a provisional agreement to double its holding in Iraq-based mobile operator Asiacell. The $1.47 billion transaction will increase Qtel’s ownership in Asiacell to 53.9 per cent. The transaction will be financed through existing funds. Further, Qtel plans to acquire an additional stake in Asiacell, subject to approval from the Iraqi government and regulators.
Qtel proposes to increase its stake in NMTC (Kuwait)
Qtel has made an offer to acquire the remaining 47.5 per cent stake in its Kuwait-based division National Mobile Telecommunications Company (NMTC). Barclays Capital and the National Bank of Kuwait’s investment banking arm are Qtel’s financial advisers for the proposed stake purchase, which is worth $2.3 billion. Qtel has submitted its offer to Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority for review.
European Commission approves Vodafone Group’s acquisition of CWW (UK)
The European Commission has approved UK-based Vodafone Group’s request for acquisition of Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW). The commission noted in its statement that the acquisition would raise no competition concerns as the parties’ activities are largely complementary. In April 2012, the Vodafone Group had reached an agreement with CWW to acquire the latter for approximately $1.6 billion in cash. Vodafone is likely to use CWW’s fibre network for increasing its bandwidth capacity to match customers’ demand for data services. Recently, a CWW shareholder ballot saw 87.5 per cent vote in favour of Vodafone’s proposal, surpassing the required shareholder approval level of 75 per cent for the deal.
TOT’s consulting deal with Softbank nears completion (Thailand)
Thailand’s state-owned operator TOT is at the final stages of signing a contract with Japan-based operator SoftBank for strategic consulting and technical support. As per the agreement, SoftBank will provide technical help with platforms, technology transfer and human resource development to TOT.
Telkom Indonesia’s Pacnet acquisition plans cancelled (Indonesia)
Indonesia-based PT Telekomunikasi (Telkom Indonesia) has shelved its plans to acquire submarine cable operator Pacnet. Since May 2011, Telkom Indonesia has been evaluating a takeover deal for Pacnet (worth $1 billion). The cable operator, owned by Ashmore Investment Management and Clearwater Capital Partners, had put itself up for sale in 2011, after its IPO plan was undermined by the volatile market.