CLB stops Uninor from auctioning assets

The Company Law Board CLB today stopped auction of Telenor-controlled joint venture Uninor saying it was a complete breach of shareholding agreement by the Norwegian telecom giant with its partner Unitech.

Uninor had on August 1 invited bidders to express interest by August 6 to buy the joint venture and said its majority owner,Telenor,was willing to pay Rs 4,190 crore for its customers and assets in case no bidder turns up. The move was opposed by Unitech,who moved the CLB. The CLB said that the auction notice issued by Uninor was under the grab of transparency is an attempt by Telenor to dissuade any prospective bidder from participating in the auction and to be bid in the auction itself.

CLB Chairman Justice DR Deshmukh said that the auction notice did not even give sufficient time to the prospective bidder for mandatory due diligence.