The Company Law Board (CLB) on Tuesday asked real estate firm Unitech to decide by March 19 if it wanted to buy its joint venture partner Telenor's 67 per cent stake in Uninor or sell its 33 per cent stake to the Norwegian telecom firm.
“You (Unitech) are given priority, whether you want to buy or sell (stake), you have to decide,” CLB Chairman Justice B. R. Deshmukh told Unitech. Counsel representing Unitech sought time for discussing the matter with the company management.
CLB asked Unitech to inform its decision by March 19, the next date for hearing.
Observing that there is hostility between the two joint venture partners, the CLB said, “I see no other solution ...what can be done, you have to decide, whether you want to buy or sell out (stake).” The counsel appearing for Unitech suggested that there could be other solutions, such as a third party buying out stakes of both companies in Uninor.
On March 1, the CLB had returned the petitions of Telenor and Unitech on technical grounds and over certain deficiencies in filing.
Before returning the petitions, Justice Deshmukh had asked the warring partners to mediate to resolve their differences but both the companies did not opt for it.
