Reliance Communications, Aircel in merger talks

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) and Aircel have started negotiations to combine their wireless operations, which could create India’s second-biggest mobile phone operator.

RCom had agreed to buy Russian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian mobile phone business in an all-stock deal in November. The RCom-MTS deal was said to be valued at $690 million (Rs 4,500 crore).

RCom said on Tuesday that it has entered into a 90-day exclusivity period with Maxis Communi-cations Berhad (MCB) and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited, the shareholders of Aircel, to consider the potential combination of the Indian wireless business of the two.

The Mumbai-based telecom company said that the idea of potential combination of business with Aircel is to mutually derive expected substantial benefits of in-country consolidation, including operating expenditure and capital expenditure synergies and revenue enhancement.

It said that 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, said RCom. “Hence, there is no certainty that any transaction will result,” it added.

RCom’s mobile phone business is India’s fourth-biggest by number of customers and Aircel ranks fifth. The merged entity could overtake Vodafone which is the number two by subscriber numbers. The potential combination will exclude RCom’s towers and optical fibre infrastructure.