Telekom Malaysia, Southeast Asia's second-biggest telephone company, said its mobile-phone venture in India will invest 140 million dollar during the next two years to expand its networks.
Spice Communications will use the investment to boost coverage of its wireless networks in the Karnataka and Punjab areas, Abdul Wahid Omar, chief executive officer of Kuala Lumpur-based Telekom Malaysia, said on Tuesday.
"These two circles have a combined population of 80 million people, which is three times that of Malaysia," Abdul Wahid said in an interview at the CommunicAsia telecom show in Singapore. Spice is seeking licenses to operate in other areas of the country, he said.
(Source: The Economic Times)
Showing posts with label Spice telecom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spice telecom. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Idea-Spice deal trips on pricing
Talks between Idea Cellular, India’s sixth-largest wireless operator, and the BK Modi-owned Spice Telecom on a merger have broken down due to differences in price. The two sides had held preliminary discussions on the possibility of a merger or an acquisition by Idea three-four weeks ago. Idea, which is present in 11 out of the country’s 23 circles, was keen on expanding its subscriber base. But it baulked at the price being demanded by Spice Telecom.
Spice, which offers cellular services in Punjab and Karnataka, had revenues of around Rs 553 crore in 2006. It was looking at a valuation of about $1.3 billion (over Rs 4,300 crore). Idea found it excessive, as Spice does not have a nation-wide presence and continues to make losses.
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ANALYSTS say that if Bharti Airtel’s valuation is taken as the benchmark, Spice would command a price of about $1 billion. But Spice is only present in two circles and is a pure-play mobile company compared with Bharti, an all-India integrated operator. Therefore, Spice’s valuation would be at a discount of 30%-35% to Airtel, or about $650 million-$700 million. Idea officials are also believed to have cited Spice’s weak presence in Karnataka as a dampener. It ranks sixth in the southern state with a share of around 7% despite having made an early start. While most operators have expanded footprint across India after starting with a few circles in the 1990s, Spice has confined to just two circles. It applied for pan-India licences only in September last year.
(Source: Economic times)
Spice, which offers cellular services in Punjab and Karnataka, had revenues of around Rs 553 crore in 2006. It was looking at a valuation of about $1.3 billion (over Rs 4,300 crore). Idea found it excessive, as Spice does not have a nation-wide presence and continues to make losses.
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ANALYSTS say that if Bharti Airtel’s valuation is taken as the benchmark, Spice would command a price of about $1 billion. But Spice is only present in two circles and is a pure-play mobile company compared with Bharti, an all-India integrated operator. Therefore, Spice’s valuation would be at a discount of 30%-35% to Airtel, or about $650 million-$700 million. Idea officials are also believed to have cited Spice’s weak presence in Karnataka as a dampener. It ranks sixth in the southern state with a share of around 7% despite having made an early start. While most operators have expanded footprint across India after starting with a few circles in the 1990s, Spice has confined to just two circles. It applied for pan-India licences only in September last year.
(Source: Economic times)
Monday, June 4, 2007
Lehman, Spinnaker pick up stake in Spice Telecom
Lehman Brothers and Spinnaker Investments have picked up a small stake in Spice telecom for about $30 million, as a part of the pre-IPO placement. It is estimateed that these investors will pick up a fifth of the nearly 138 million shares that will be issued in the IPO at about Rs 45 per share.
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