Spice Telecom Sells Stake To Lehman Bros & Spinnaker Investments; Spice, Idea, Aircel To Merge?
An update on the impending Spice Telecom-Idea Cellular merger: Mint reports that Aircel cellular, of which 74 percent is owned by Malaysian telco Maxis, is also in talks with Idea and Spice for a three way merger. The merger will give the combined entity greater bargaining power for procurement of equipment, handsets etc.
Meanwhile, before the Spice Telecom IPO, the company has sold stake to Lehman Brothers and Spinnaker Investments for around $30 million, reports ET. They’ve apparently picked up around 20 percent of the 138 million shares at Rs. 45 per share, as a part of a pre-IPO placement. The company is expected to file a draft Red Herring Prospectus tomorrow. Post IPO, the Modi’s will hold 41 percent stake, while Telekom Malaysia will hold 39 percent stake in the company.
Apparently, the merger talks will be stalled now until after the Spice IPO, which is expected to help the company’s valuations. And I suppose all this talk about mergers will help the company’s IPO, so it works out rather well for Spice Telecom - merger or not.
Related StoriesPosted In: Mobile, Money, M&A & Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions
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Comments (2)
Jun 6, 2007 3:45 AM
It seems Lehman is very upbeat about Modi Group. Some days back they invested $20 million in Cellebrum (also, a Modi Group company) and now this pre-IPO purchase.
Jun 7, 2007 2:28 AM
dunno what’s up with the mergers and IPO deals. what i know is i have a friend of mine who had an offer from spice telecom and on the date of joining, he gets to know that due to some mergers/aqu/etc. the job offer no more remains valid, now there is consolation that they’d place him in some sister concern/subsidary…i say this is not fair