Hutchison Essar has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the two cellular arms of BPL Communications –­ BPL Mobile (Mumbai) and BPL Cellular (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Goa) –­ from the Essar Group at an enterprise value of $1.15 billion or Rs 50.6 billion. It has also entered into a conditional agreement with Essar to buy out Essar Spacetel Limited for $6 million or Rs 270 million. While the BPL acquisition will be funded in cash and through assumption of debt, the Essar Spacetel deal would be completed in cash. The cost of the acquisitions will be funded by its shareholders and external bank borrowings. Earlier, the Essar Group had acquired T.P.G. Nambiar's 13 per cent stake in BPL Communications for Rs 1.25 billion, raising its stake to 77 per cent.