Telenor to acquire 100 percent stake in Uninor for Rs 780 crore

New Delhi: Norwegian telecom firm Telenor today said it will take complete ownership of its Indian unit Uninor by acquiring the 26 percent stake held by Lakshdeep Investments for Rs 780 crore. The company, which currently owns 74 percent stake in Uninior, has filed an application with FIPB seeking to raise its ownership to 100 percent. “An application has been filed with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of the Government of India, seeking approval for an additional investment of Rs 780 crore to raise ownership in Uninor to 100 percent,” Telenor said in a statement. It added that the investments will be utilised to acquire the remaining stake held by Lakshdeep Investments as a financial investor. [caption id=“attachment_630099” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A Uninor logo is seen in this file photo. Reuters[/caption] Telenor said its Indian unit had participated in two separate spectrum auctions to acquire radiowaves in the range of 5Mhz to 7.2 Mhz in seven circles that together represent more than half of India?s population. “This year, Uninor has announced an additional investment of Rs 500 crore towards expansion of its network and distribution infrastructure by 30 percent,” the statement said. Uninor, which has over 30 million customers, currently offers services in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP East and UP West and is planning to launch services in Assam this year. “Uninor has now emerged as the 4th largest mobile operator by both customer and revenues share in its best circles,” the statement added. The company had reported an operating profit of about Rs 1,531 crore for the January-March quarter because of one-time accounting adjustment of Rs 1,660 crore related to licence fees. PTI