Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecommunications services provider announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Telenor South Asia Investments (Telenor) to acquire Telenor (India) Communications Private (Telenor India). The acquisition is subject to requisite regulatory, approvals.
As part of the agreement, Airtel will acquire Telenor India's running operations in seven circles -Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. These circles represent a high population concentration and therefore offer a high potential for growth.
The proposed acquisition will include transfer of all of Telenor India's assets and customers, further augmenting Airtel's overall customer base and network. It will also enable Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum foot-print in these seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.
Airtel will ensure quality services to Telenor India's customers, while offering them the added benefits of its innovative product portfolio, access to superior voice & data services, mobile banking, VAS and domestic/ international roaming facilities. Telenor India's operations and services will continue as normal until the completion of the transaction.
Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel, said, ''The agreement underlines our commitment to lead India's digital revolution by offering world-class and affordable telecom services through a robust spectrum portfolio spread across multiple bands. On completion, the proposed acquisition will undergo seamless integration; both on the customer as well as the network side, and further strengthen our market position in several key circles. The customers of Telenor India will now be able to enjoy India's widest and fastest voice & data network, and a range of Airtel's world-class products and services.''
Shares of the company gained Rs 8.65, or 2.4%, to trade at Rs 369.80. The total volume of shares traded was 0 at the BSE (9.03 a.m., Thursday).
