New Delhi, Feb. 20: Norway's Telenor is likely to bring more than one partner into its Indian venture Uninor, in which it wants to hold a 74 per cent stake.
At present, Telenor owns 67 per cent in Uninor, while the remaining stake is with Indian joint venture partner Unitech ' a Delhi-based real estate player.
The relationship between the two partners has gone sour over the last few months over disagreements about various management issues, including a proposed Rs 8,000-crore rights issue for long-term funding.
The recent cancellation of Uninor's pan-India mobile permits by the Supreme Court has strained the partnership further.
Telenor recently announced that it will look for new Indian partners as the "strategic partnership with Unitech does not have a future".
"We're definitely seeking a partner who will accept that Telenor is in full control of the operation," said Sigve Brekke, head of Asia operations for Telenor Group.
"We intend to take in a 26 per cent partner. So the intent for Telenor is to go up to 74 per cent," added Brekke, who is also the managing director of Uninor.
The company has already applied to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) for permission to raise its stake in Uninor to 74 per cent, which is the maximum limit allowed for overseas holdings in telecom.
However, Telenor will have to first come to an agreement with Unitech to buy out its share, or Unitech has to agree to reduce its stake in the joint venture. Sources said Telenor had started negotiations with Unitech.
Telenor, which entered India in 2009, also said the new partner need not have any experience in telecom. Sources named Sterlite Industries and Calcutta-based Srei Infrastructure as two companies that Telenor could be in talks with for a potential relationship.
Investment bankers told The Telegraph that Telenor was likely to follow an ownership structure similar to Vodafone India, which gives it complete control of running domestic operations.
Last year, British telecom player Vodafone bought its Indian partner Essar's 33 per cent stake in Vodafone Essar.
There are no comments yet