Govt alleges violation of merger norms

04 Apr 2011 Evaluate

The communications ministry has obtained a stay on the 2008 merger between mobile phone companies Idea Cellular and Spice Communications from the Delhi High Court, leading to angry protests from Idea, which accused the telecom department of indulging in ‘duplicity and muscle flexing’. The government had obtained the stay on the grounds that the Aditya Birla Group firm violated laws by holding more than 10% stake in two mobile companies operating in the same regions.

The Delhi High Court had approved the Idea-Spice merger in January 2010. Idea holds overlapping mobile permits in six telecom circles after its acquisition of Spice Communications in October 2008. The legal opinion had suggested that Idea was in violation of telecom rules, which prohibit a mobile phone company from holding more than 10% stake in two Telco’s operating in the same regions. It added that Idea Cellular and Spice Communications also violated the April 2008 merger guidelines, which prohibited new entrants from selling stakes within three years of obtaining licences.crackcrack

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