Bharti completes Hexacomm deal in Rajasthan

Bharti Telecom today completed a Rs 430 crore deal, thereby acquiring a majority 67.5 per cent stake in Hexacomm, the mobile operators in Ra...

Bharti Telecom today completed a Rs 430 crore deal, thereby acquiring a majority 67.5 per cent stake in Hexacomm, the mobile operators in Rajasthan.

‘‘As part of mega plans for Rajasthan we will be investing over Rs 200 crore in the next 18 months for expansion and modernisation of network to achieve a customer base of five lakhs from the existing 2.65 lakhs,’’ Sunil Mittal, Group Chairman and Managing Director said here. The entire acquisition transaction is principally a shareswap deal wherein share/optionally convertible redeemable debenture (OCRD) of Bharti Televentures have been issued to the Shyam Group as a swap for their holdings in Hexacomm, he said.

The Rs 430 crore deal was funded by issue of OCRD for Rs 375 crore and the balance in cash. Hexacomm operates its mobile services under the aegis of Oasis brand. With a 41 per cent market share in Rajasthan, Oasis had over 2.65 lakh customers as on April 30, 2004. The acquisition deal has been completed after Telecom Consultants India Limited (TCIL), a 30 per cent stakeholder in Hexacomm decided not to exercise its ‘right of refusal’.

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This is Bharti’s 16th circle of GSM-based cellular services operations, Mittal said, adding that by August 15 this year, six more circles would be added to achieve a nationwide footprint.

It will expand the operations to 150 towns from the existing 62 towns over the next 18 months, he added.

Bharti will change the brand in Rajasthan from Oasis to Airtel within 90 days from today. The deal comes after Bharti made a pitch to acquire Canadian company TIW’s about 27 per cent stake in Hexacomm but lost out to Shyam. Ambit Corporate Finance advised Bharti on the transaction while Prime Securities advised Shyam Group.

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