The first merger in Indian telecom market in nearly six years, India’s top telecom operator Bharti Airtel is all set to acquire the Loop Mobile, the telecom operator which operates only in Mumbai telecom circle. In a Rs 700 core said deal Airtel will get Loop’s 3 million subscribers base, about 400 telecom towers, optic fibre networks, and all the electronic equipment associated with Loop’s.
With this acquisition Bharti Airtel will add up 3 million subscribers to its network, taking its total customer base to around 7.1 million subscribers. This would help them to take the first spot from Vodafone India, who has 6.9 million subscribers in the Mumbai telecom circle.
“India’s a leading global telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, and Loop Mobile today announced a strategic agreement for their operations in Mumbai (India) service area,” said Bharti in its filing.
Various reports say that Bharti Airtel would pay around Rs 300 crore which will got to the promoters IP Khaitan and family and rest Rs 400 crore for repaying Loop’s debt.
Meanwhile, Loop Mobile’s spectrum license in Mumbai telecom circle will expire on September 2014 and they didn’t participate in the recently held spectrum auction for 1800 MHz and 900MHz. On the other hand Bharti Airtel participated in the spectrum auction and bought premium 900 Mhz spectrum license in Mumbai telecom circle for around Rs 2800 crore. With this deal Loop’s subscribers will thus continue to get uninterrupted services despite the company’s licence expiring in September.