After MTS, RCom may buy Aircel

NEW DELHI: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) has said that it is in talks to acquire its rival Aircel, a leading Indian mobile operator.

Aircel is majority owned by Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Berhad, which invested $1.08 billion in 2005 for its stake in the Indian company.

“It has entered into a 90-day exclusivity period with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited, the shareholders of Aircel Limited (“Aircel”), to consider the potential combination of the Indian wireless business of RCom and Aircel to mutually derive the expected substantial benefits of incountry consolidation, including opex and capex synergies and revenue enhancement,” the company said in a statement.

“The potential combination will exclude RCom’s towers and optical fibre infrastructure, for which RCom is proceeding with an asset sale, as announced on December 4, 2015,” it siad.

“The discussions are non-binding in nature. Any transaction will be subject to due diligence, definitive documentation and regulatory, shareholders’ and other third party approvals. Hence, there is no certainty that any transaction will result,” a statement said.

If RCom acquired Aircel then it  will provide a strong platform in Indian telecommunications market, and RCom will give tough competition to its rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India.

As of September, Reliance had around 110 million subscribers while Aircel had around 84 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

RCom is the India’s fourth-largest telecommunications company, is on an acquisition spree. Last month, the company said that it will acquire Sistema’s Indian wireless business, carried on by Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. (SSTL) under the MTS brand, into RCom. The closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2016.

Lastly, the company will acquire MTS approx. 9 million customers and approx. Rs 1,500 crore of annual revenues by virtue of the transaction.