Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran is weighing the possibility of shutting down the conglomerate's mobile telephony vertical, Tata Teleservices Ltd, after failing to find a buyer for the unit, a report in The Times of India stated, citing people aware of the development.
The report pegs the consolidated debt of Tata Teleservices at more than Rs 34,000 crore.
Data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India shows that Tata Teleservices has a wireless subscriber base of 4.20 crore as on 31 July 2017. The market share is about 3.5%.
The TOI report stated that Tata Teleservices was in discussions with rival telecom players Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone but nothing has fructified.
In April, the Delhi High Court approved a settlement whereby Tata Sons had to pay Japan’s NTT Docomo $1.18 billion for buying 26.5% stake in Tata Teleservices. The Japanese company had decided to sell its stake in 2014.
Tata Teleservices Ltd along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd has presence in 19 telecom circles, according to information on the company’s website.
BDIL acquisition
The lenders of Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Ltd (BDIL) have received interest from German Dry Docks Group for a possible acquisition at an enterprise value of around $370 million, The Economic Times reported, citing people aware of the development.
The decision to liquidate the company lies with the lenders, says the report.
“A proposal has come to the lenders from the German company along with a Hong Kong-based private equity fund to acquire the company. The initial interest pegs the company's enterprise value at around Rs 2,400-2,500 crore,†the report cited one person as saying.
The asset reconstruction arm of Edelweiss holds a controlling stake in the company via pledged shares, according to the report.
German Dry Docks Group is in the business of repair, retrofitting and upgrading of vessels.
Asahi India Glass buy out
In a bid to take over the entire company, Japan’s Asahi Glass is looking to buy out the stake of its partner, the Labroo family, in auto glass manufacturer Asahi India Glass Ltd, a report in The Economic Times stated, quoting two persons aware of the development.
As on June 2017, Asahi Glass Co. Ltd held 22.21% stake in the company, while Sanjay Labroo with his family held 22.1% stake.
“After a protracted negotiation of over nine months, Asahi is likely to pay about Rs 2,500 crore to buy out Labroo and his family members, valuing the company at about Rs 12,500 crore," the report cited one person as saying.
In a stock exchange disclosure on Thursday, the company denied the development that Japan’s Asahi Glass is buying controlling stake.
The company has a market capitalisation of close to Rs 10,000 crore.
