Bahrain Telecom first to exit India
Bahrain Telecommun-ications (Batelco) has become the first international telecom firm to exit India, selling its 43 per cent stake in STel, whose licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court last week.
“This is a part of an earlier understanding with (our) Indian partner to exit, given the circumstances surrounding the 2G probe in India over the past 12 months,” Batelco said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.
Batelco will sell its stake for $175 million to its Indian partner, Sky City Foundation Ltd. This is the same price Batelco had paid to acquire its STel stake in 2009. “BMIC Ltd, a 100 per cent Batelco-owned subsidiary, entered into an agreement in the fourth quarter of 2011 to sell its 42.7 per cent equity in STel for BD 65.8 million ($174.5 million) to its Indian partner, Sky City Foundation Ltd,” said Batelco’s group chief executive Shaikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa. He said BMIC Ltd had decided as early as April 2011 to actively pursue the sale of this investment. “Batelco had disclosed in its financial accou-nts for the period ending 30 June 2011 that BMIC’s investment in STel was presented as an asset held-for-sale,” the company said.
The agreed timeframe for the completion of the sale is the end of October 2012. Batelco acquired a stake in STel through two transactions in May and June 2009.
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