Telenor in Tata tie-up talks

Norwegian group Telenor and India’s Tata Group are likely to combine their wireless operations in India, the Business Standard writes, citing an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the matter. According the source, Telenor – which operates in India under the Uninor brand – would handle the day-to-day running of the combined entity, whilst Tata would hold a minority stake in the enlarged company. The duo are reportedly waiting for clarification from the Indian government regarding merger and acquisition rules before making an announcement on the matter. As previously reported by CommsUpdate, Telenor is considering purchasing the 26.5% stake in Tata Teleservices (TTSL) to be offloaded by Japan’s NTT DOCOMO as it seeks to extricate itself from the loss-making cellco. Rumours have tied ailing TTSL to several potential merger or takeover deals in recent years, with potential buyers including South Africa’s MTN as well as local cellcos Vodafone India, Aircel and Reliance Communications. Elsewhere, a three-way merger between Aircel, Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) and TTSL was also rumoured.