Telenor announces new joint venture partner for telecom auction

Telenor announces new joint venture partner for telecom auctionNorwegian telecommunications firm Telenor Group has chosen Lakshdeep Investments & Finance Pvt. Ltd as its new partner for its telecom operations in India.

Telenor Group will possess a 74 per cent stake and maintain operational control in new joint venture Telewings Communications, while Lakshdeep Investments & Finance Pvt. Ltd will pick up the remaining 26 per cent in the new joint venture.

Lakshdeep is owned by Sudhir Valia, who owns about 1 per cent stake in Sun Pharma, has agreed to buy the stake in Telewings but the valuation would only be known after the assets are transferred to the joint venture.

Announcing the new partner, Telenor said, "This is a financial investment by Valia in his personal capacity. Lakshdeep will contribute an agreed amount of equity into Telewings."

Telenor announced the new partner days after it parted ways with real estate firm Unitech by settling its disputes with the Chandras for Rs 25 crore.

Telenor's 22 licences were among the 122 that were cancelled by the Supreme Court of India in February this year. The Norwegian telecommunications firm has so far invested nearly Rs 14,000 crore in the Indian operations.

Despite the high base prices for the fresh spectrum auctions, Telewings is widely expected to take part in it.