deepu 0 Report post Posted July 20, 2005 In a major acquisition in the telecom sector, the Ruia-managed Essar Group on Wednesday bought a controlling stake in BPL Communications for a consideration of over Rs 4,400 crore (Rs 44 billion). "BPL Mobile has entered into a binding agreement with Essar, for Essar to acquire a controlling stake in BPL Communications. The deal is valued at over $1 billion (over Rs 4,400 crore)," Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Chairman and CEO of BPL Mobile said. Chandrasekhar said Essar would be buying 67 per cent stake directly, while the remaining would be bought over from other shareholders, both foreign and domestic investors. "It is the stated intention of both parties to eventually have BPL Mobile merge with Hutchison Essar's cellular services after necessary approvals," he said. "Once merged, Hutch Essar will become a strong competitor to the two large cellular operations of Reliance and Airtel," he added. Chandrasekhar also said this is the largest ever acquisition in the telecom sector. BPL Communications owns a 74 per cent stake in BPL Mobile Communications having operations in Mumbai and 100 per cent ownership of BPL Mobile Cellular with operations in Maharashtra and Goa, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and Kerala. With this acquisition, Hutchison-Essar would have services in 21 circles. Announcing the agreement, Chandrasekhar said: "The BPL Mobile franchise has been built over the last 10 years with a lot of passion, commitment and effort and enjoys the unstinting and unparalleled trust of millions of subscribers. "The strength of our franchise along with the strong financial performance posted in recent months made us a highly valuable investment proposition for Essar," he said. With this acquisition, the combined subscriber base of Hutch-Essar and BPL would be over 11 million. Commenting on the deal, Ravi Ruia, vice chairman, Essar said: "This agreement gives us the ability to increase our presence in the country and add muscle to a already strong presence through Hutchison Essar's operations." "Our aim is to become the leading telephony services provider in the region. This and Essar Group's other plans in the telecom sector will give us a pan-India footprint and make us a significant player in this business," he said. Courtesy - rediff.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chirag 5 Report post Posted July 20, 2005 Pretty interesting!!! Orange n BPL the biggest rival of the early telecom days in Mumbai becoming a single entity in days to come, makes it a real interesting thing!! In mumbai itself, i think they'll become the largest operator! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
solanky 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2005 Pretty interesting!!! Orange n BPL the biggest rival of the early telecom days in Mumbai becoming a single entity in days to come, makes it a real interesting thing!! In mumbai itself, i think they'll become the largest operator! 36172[/snapback] As I have read in newspapers Hutch will become not only the biggest opertor in Mumbai but also the biggest GSM operator in India. ( Airtel still have more subscibers than Hutch + BPL but Airtel also gives Landlines connections) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dilbert 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2005 I the Mumbai circle alone orange+bpl will be having 67% market share. Govt. regulations limit the share of a single operator to 67% in any circle, due to monopoly restrictions... So well, I think they wont be adding any more subscribers atleast in this circle lest they come under the govt. scanner. Also if they can find a round-about way, then they will declare it as a intra-circle merger & make it all look perfectly fine & sunny....p) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SexyGurl 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2005 (edited) Pretty interesting!!! Orange n BPL the biggest rival of the early telecom days in Mumbai becoming a single entity in days to come, makes it a real interesting thing!! In mumbai itself, i think they'll become the largest operator! 36172[/snapback] As I have read in newspapers Hutch will become not only the biggest opertor in Mumbai but also the biggest GSM operator in India. ( Airtel still have more subscibers than Hutch + BPL but Airtel also gives Landlines connections) 36204[/snapback] Well I actually track the subscriber numbers as a matter of interest. As on June end: Total -- included Mobile, FWP, Wireline Bharti - 13.1 million BSNL (incl. MTNL): 11.3 million Reliance: 12 million Hutch: 8.4 million Idea: 5.5 million Tata: 4.5 million Only Mobile Bharti - 12.2 million BSNL (incl. MTNL): 11.3 million Reliance: 10.2 million Hutch: 8.4 million Idea: 5.5 million Tata: 1.4 million All wireless (Mobile + FWP etc.] Bharti - 12.2 million BSNL (incl. MTNL): 11.3 million Reliance: 11.8 million Hutch: 8.4 million Idea: 5.5 million Tata: 4.1 million (So, Bharti has about 0.9 million wireline subscribers ... but even without them, has largetst subscribers). But maybe they need to eliminate the customers they have lost due to "churn" .... or eliminated due to defaults etc., like reliance eliminated about 1 million customers in march. For Bharti, Hutch such a one time write off, seems overdue (Esp. prepay customers keep changing operators, so get double counted, since the old operator keep the account live till 6 months) Edited July 21, 2005 by bhutes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SexyGurl 0 Report post Posted July 21, 2005 More of that: BPL has 2.6 million subscribers ... so even those should take hutch to around 11 million ... well short of bharti's mobile subscribers (12.2 million), & the BSNL+MTNL combine (given merger is overdue and they operate in complementary circles and offer roaming only to each other). Reliance at 10.2 million mobile subscribers would be short of hutch 11 million ... but reliance gains about 0.2 million subscribers over (hutch+bpl) additions every months ... so it'll take 4 months to cross hutch + bpl too (assuming markets keep running the same way in future). If reliance's FWP is also added, then at 12 million, it would already by ahead of hutch + bpl. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
