The state-run telecom major BSNL has put on hold its proposed plan to acquire a stake in the Kuwaiti telecom major Zain, said its CMD Kuldeep Goyal, today.
BSNL and MTNL had been approached by Vavasi, a New Delhi-based diversified firm with interests in telecom to energy, to partner it along with Malaysian billionaire Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary for acquiring 46 per cent stake in Zain Telecom.
Zain Telecom was trading at 0.93 Dinar (K), down 4.12 per cent on the Kuwait Stock Exchange today.
“The plan is on hold. We had sought some information from Vavasi about the company itself, which we have not yet received. We have not made any further progress on that. It could be implied that there is no further progress on the acquisition of Zain Telecom and is on hold”, Mr. Goyal said.
Asked if BSNL is looking to approach Zain directly, he said “no further progress as far as this proposal on Zain is concerned“.
MTNL chairman and managing director R.S.P. Sinha, also said that his company is not in the fray for Zain. “We are not in the fray. We do not have that much cash to have an acquisition of that size. The last quarter result of Zain shows that its profits are going down drastically. There are certain issues”, Mr. Sinha told a television channel.
The PSU, which today announced a partnership with the England-based BT to offer managed global conferencing solutions to Indian corporates, said of a Rs. 14,000-crore capex plan for this fiscal, a major portion of that has already been spent on mobile line expansion and network.
