Telenor the joint venture partner in telecom operator Uninor Wireless, has received approvals from the majority of the board members to sell off its business, while its Indian partner Unitech Ltd is mulling of a legal recourse.
The joint venture, Unitech Wireless has invited proposals from potential bidders by August 6, 2012, its Managing Director Sigve Brekke said in a public notice.
Telenor would participate in the forthcoming 2G auctions through an Indian affiliate company and in case there is just one bidder, it would have the right to fix the bid price at a "fair market value" of Rs 4,190 crore ($753 million), it said.
Telenor which had decided to scale down operations across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Orissa circles in India as reported earlier, will scrap the joint venture with real estate major Unitech and migrate its business to a new company. The Norwegian company also intends to seek fresh 2G licences and commence operation through the new company.
Simultaneously, it will strengthen its operations in Uttar Pradesh-East, Uttar Pradesh-West, Bihar and Jharkhand, Kolkata, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa, and Gujarat.Telenor holds controls the JV with a 67.25 per cent ownership. Interestingly, Telenor is yet to finalise its joint venture partner.
Unitech's nominee directors on the company’s board have recorded their dissent to selling off assets through an auction. The Indian company is also planning to take legal action against the proposed auction. The decision to sell off the business is attributed to the ongoing regulatory uncertainties.
