More Consolidation in India

India's Bharti Group has acquired TeliaSonera's 26% stake in Bharti Mobile, giving it 100% ownership of the former joint venture. It is reported that the stake was sold for US$59 million.

Bharti Mobile operates in the license circles of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Punjab, and now has 100% control of all its mobile subsidiaries, with the exception of its operations in Chennai, where DSS Enterprises still holds 4.7% of the city wide network.

Commenting on the purchase, Sunil Mittal said, "We are pleased to consolidate our stake in these mobile operations. This also paves the way for completing the consolidation process of all our mobile operations under Bharti Cellular Ltd."

The Bharti Group has previously stated its intention to merge all its cellular operations into one company, leading to speculation that it will also attempt to buy out DSS Enterprises in the near future.

Recent moves by the Indian government to allow the reselling of cellular licenses is also expected to increase the rate of consolidation as companies will be able to buy networks and sell any licenses that they no longer require.

Further Indian news came, when it was announced last week that Vodafone has sold its minority 20.76% stake in RPG Cellular to Aircel for an undisclosed amount."

Posted to the site on 9th June 2003