Norwegian telecom company Telenor Asia Pte Ltd. pumped in Rs 1,493 crore into its Indian telecom joint venture with Unitech, Unitech Wireless. The money is through the fresh equity into a bunch of subsidiaries that operate in the various circles. With this infusion, Telenor owns a 60.1% stake in the company, against 49% earlier, making it the majority shareholder. Telenor’s total investment in the telecom business is Rs 4,113 crore so far, and will increase to Rs 5,606 crore after this investment.
In the last round of the transaction, Telenor will take its stake up to 67.25%.
In a statement, Sigve Brekke, executive vice president and head of Telenor Group Asian Operations, said: “This third investment will as the earlier transactions provide Uninor with working capital to fund the roll out of services across India.” The company has launched its telecom service in 8 circles in India in December 2009. The company has got government approval to take its stake up in Unitech Wireless up to 74%.
Read the Telenor press release here.