Telenor’s hike in Telewings stake to 74% is finalised

Norway-based telecom services company Telenor today announced that it has raised its stake in its Indian arm Telewings Communications to 74 per cent with an investment of about Rs1,000 crore.

"The Telenor Group confirms that subsequent to receiving approvals, it has made additional investments in India. With this, Telenor Group's ownership in the Indian company Telewings now stands at 74 per cent," a Telenor spokesperson said.

After severing its relationship with former Indian partner Unitech (See: Unitech agrees to sell its Uninor stake to Telenor), Telenor formed Telewings in a joint venture with Lakshdeep Investments & Finance, which holds a 51 per cent stake in the company.

According to a PTI report, sources in the government said Telenor has brought in about Rs1,000 crore and informed the departments concerned about the change in the shareholding structure of Telewings.

Telenor participated in the November 2012 spectrum auction through Telewings and gained airwaves to operate in the six circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP East, UP West, Bihar (including Jharkhand), and Andhra Pradesh.

The company continues to operate under its earlier brand name Uninor, which was created under its partnership with real estate firm Unitech.

All licences of Uninor were cancelled in February 2012 by the Supreme Court along with 100 other 2G permits. Uninor had to bid for spectrum afresh to continue its operations.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT)  issued new licences to Telewings in the first week of December (See: Telenor gets DoT nod to transfer Uninor assets to Telewings); and the new entity is now managing Uninor's operations.