4 Jun, 2008, 1045 hrs IST,Joji Thomas Philip & Chaitali Chakravarty, TNN
NEW DELHI: Idea Cellular and Spice Communications are again talking merger. ET has learnt that two options are being considered. The first, the Modis may sell their 40% stake in the company to Idea before the merger.
Telekom Malaysia (TM), which has a 39% stake in Spice, will then get a stake in Idea post-merger. The second, Telekom Malaysia will first buy the Modis' stake in Spice and the company will merge with Idea later. In such a scenario, too, TM will end up being a shareholder in Idea.
Spice Communications chairman BK Modi today confirmed ET's report last week which said he was looking at a stake sale. He did not mention Idea’s name but said that Etisalat of UAE and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo could be interested parties, and added that he was open to Telekom Malaysia increasing its stake to 74% in the company.
“TM partners Etisalat and NTT DoCoMo in some markets. If they want to bring them in as part of the deal (for taking stake to 74%), we are open to that,” Mr Modi said.
