Dec

31

RCom Rolls Out GSM Service in 11000 Towns

Filed Under India Business, India Investment Opportunities, Indian Companies, Mobile Telecom, Tier-2 Cities | Leave a Comment

In one of the fastest network roll outs to cover one billion people, Reliance Communications (RCom) on has unveiled its nationwide GSM mobile service across 11,000 towns.

The rollout with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, makes RCom the only national player to offer both CDMA and GSM services to customers.

  • RCom plans to execute both CDMA and GSM through an integrated operation.
  • RCom’s CDMA network spans more than 20,000 towns and 450,000 villages, with around 60 million subscribers.
  • The plan is to double RCom’s GSM coverage from 11,000 towns and three lakh villages to 24,000 towns and six lakh villages over the next few months, involving an incremental capex of a few thousand crore rupees.

Anil Ambani of Reliance ADAG and RCom said:

“In 2003, Reliance changed the landscape of telecom in India. Year 2009 will be no different. The company is targeting 100 million subscribers to use its network. We have done in 15 months what the industry has been trying to do in 15 years. Through the GSM launch, RCom plans to rewrite the rules of the industry in terms of pricing, proposition, value added services.”

  • RCom plans to procure seven million handsets for Rs 3,850 crore. For the first year of GSM operations, RCom has set a target to sell 15-20 million handsets.
  • RCom will use the existing 2,500 retail stores to push its new strategy.

Quick Facts On Indian Mobile Telecom Industry:

  • The Indian mobile handset market is expected to cross 100 million units this year against last years estimated size of 70-75 million units.
  • The GSM market serves 75% of the about 300 million mobile customers in India, and adds approximately nine million users every month.

Dec

31

ONGC To Acquire Imperial Energy - Shareholders Approve The Deal

Filed Under Energy, India Business, Indian Companies | Leave a Comment

Indian Energy Giant — Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) — has made a timely European acquisition: Imperial Energy.

http://www.imperialenergy.com/i/imperial_energy_logo.gifImperial Energy is based in Leeds, UK and owns oil producing blocks in Tomsk region of western Siberia in Russia and Kastanai in north-central Kazakhstan.

The ONGC has taken control of Imperial Energy Plc for GBP 1.3 billion (USD 1.9 billion) after an overwhelming 96.8% shareholders of London-listed Imperial Energy accepted the ONGC takeover offer.

The deadline for the state-owned firm’s 12.50 pounds per share offer closed yesterday and 99,241,110 or 96.8 per cent of the shares were tendered, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) informed the London Stock Exchange.

OVL needed 90% shareholders to approve the deal, and got 96.8% approval. Imperial Energy will be delisted from from the London Stock Exchange pays in cash to the remaining 3.2% shareholders who were not in favour. The entire acquisition and subsequent delisting of Imperial Energy may take two to three weeks — which is quite fast by most standards.

ONGC Chairman R S Sharma said:

“ONGC ows the acquisition to government support, which has seen OVL in the past seven years increase its number of projects to 39 in 17 countries, from just a single project in Vietnam. This is the biggest overseas ever acquisition by OVL.”

OVL will fund the transaction through a combination of loans from the parent company (ONGC), wherein ONGC would lend USD 1 billion to fund the transaction at 5.96 % interest rate.

In 2003, OVL paid USD 1.7 billion to buy 20% stake in Exxon Mobil Corp’s Sakhalin-I field in Russia and USD 785 million for a stake in the Greater Nile project in Sudan.

Analysis & Projection: The weak UK pound and the better market capitalization of Asian companies could see more such takeovers in Energy and other sectors too.

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