Aditya Birla Group on Wednesday raised its stake in Idea Cellular to 50.15 per cent after it bought Cingular Wireless's stake for $150 million (about Rs 650 crore).
Aditya Birla group's Idea Cellular has signed a deal to acquire 40.8 per cent stake in Spice Communications for Rs 2,716 crore (Rs 27.16 billion).
The merged entity would be known as 'Vodafone Idea Ltd'.
Denying any breach of merger and acquisition (M&A) norms, Aditya Birla group firm Idea Cellular on Tuesday said the company's merger with Spice Communications was approved by court and consummated with the full knowledge of the Department of Telecom.
The Pune-based Rahul Bajaj group, thanks to an amazing stock market ride by Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv, has grabbed third spot, pushing the Aditya Birla group down to fourth position.
The Aditya Birla Group announced the merger of its two holding companies, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Grasim, to make the holding structure clearer, ensure stable cash flows and unlock value in its financial services arm
Telecoms investor Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd and retailer Future Group were among the first big names to apply for licenses to run so-called payments banks
Aditya Birla Group company Idea Cellular today said it expects to start 3G services in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal.
Aditya Birla group on Tuesday announced it had concluded acquisition of Tata group's 49 per cent stake in Idea Cellular Ltd for Rs 4,406 crore
Not just Mumbai, the company's plans to roll out services in Bihar and Jharkhand has also been delayed due to the unavailability of spectrum.
Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular and US-based wireless operator Verizon are all set to get the Letters of Intent for long distance services following clearance of their applications by the Department of Telecom (DoT). Official sources said the applications have been put forward for the Telecom Minister's approval. Idea is awaiting LoI for International Long Distance services while Verizon's application is for both National and International Long Distance services
Idea announced the lowest tariff for mobile users in the city offering all local calls for 40 paise per minute on its network for a period of one year, and STD and SMS at 50 paise per minute, on any mobile and landline network.
Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla group company, is investing around Rs 647 crore (Rs 6.47 billion) for the rollout of operations in the Mumbai circle. The operations are expected to commence in two months time.
The company now plans to start services in Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Orissa by end-December-January-2009. Idea Cellular currently runs operations in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and holds spectrum for Bihar, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and licenses for the remaining six service areas.
Providence had bought 15 per cent in Idea Cellular in 2006 for around Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion) through its investment arm - P5 Asia Investment (Mauritius).
The initial public offer of Aditya Birla group flagship company Idea Cellular was oversubscribed more than 57 times in the process generating the highest ever demand of Rs 1,21,557 crore
Market worth has risen to half that of Airtel and double that of RCom.
In a big setback to Aditya Birla Group firm Idea Cellular, the Delhi High Court said the six licences of Spice Communications would not be transferred to Idea, since the company did not comply with the licence and merger guidelines. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore for hiding information.
While Vodafone will hold 45.1% of the shares in the new entity, to be renamed at a later stage, Kumar Mangalam Birla and other promoters of Idea group will hold 26%. Vodafone India will also transfer 4.9% of its shareholding to Idea's promoters for a cash consideration of Rs 38.74 lakh crores.
The companies are expected to announce the deal soon.
The Ruias of Essar have rejected an offer by the Aditya Birla group's Idea Cellular to acquire BPL Mobile's Mumbai circle, which lost heavily on its valuations due to the corporate battle between its shareholders.
Telecom operator Idea Cellular said it is on track with its plans to raise Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) through its initial public issue and plans to clear all formalities by the month-end.
While UltraTech Cement has been the biggest value creator adding nearly Rs 99,000 crore to its market capitalisation, Grasim Industries has added around Rs 27,000 crore to its market cap.
A new board has been constituted for the merged entity 'Vodafone Idea Ltd' with 12 directors (including six independent directors) and Kumar Mangalam Birla as its Chairman. The board has appointed Balesh Sharma as the CEO, the companies said in a joint statement. The combination will have an all-India revenue market share of 32.2 per cent and take the numero uno slot in nine telecom circles, it said adding that both Vodafone and Idea brands will continue.
Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which will remain listed.
Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla group firm that is on the verge of taking over Spice Communications by buying out B K Modi's 41 per cent stake, is sounding out its bankers to raise funds to upgrade in the struggling telecom operator's network and technology.
The company will go in for a pre-IPO private placement of 15 per cent of the shares to be offered through the issue.
Both the promoter groups - Vodafone and Aditya Birla - have confirmed their participation of up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore, respectively, in the issue.
Providence Equity Partners of the US, which had made an abortive attempt to enter India through the acquisition of C Sivasankaran's stake in Aircel last year, has picked up a 15 per cent stake in the Aditya Birla Group-controlled Idea Cellular.
Another important early decision of Birla was to get into the wireless telephony business in association with AT&T and another revered Indian business house, the Tatas.
Amid an existential crisis facing the firm over Rs 50,000 crore unpaid dues towards the government, billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday stepped down as the chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd. Birla -- who had in June offered to give away his holding in the joint venture with Britain's Vodafone to the government -- will cease to be a director and non-executive chairman of the company at the end of business hours on Wednesday, VIL said in a filing to the stock exchanges. It did not give any reason for Birla's decision. He will be replaced by Himanshu Kapania (who was earlier managing director and CEO of Birla's Idea Cellular) as the new chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd.
After Airtel and Hutch, cellular operator Idea, an Aditya Birla Group Company, has lowered ISD rates by 80 paise per minute.
"If we are not getting anything then I think it is end of story for Vodafone Idea," Kumar Mangalam Birla said at the HT Leadership Summit when asked about the future of Vodafone Idea in absence of a government relief on payment of Rs 53,038 crore dues.
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