Rajeev Chandrashekhar may offload 49% in BPL Comm

Kishore Sharma - Televisionpoint.com
After BPL group's patriarch T.P.G. Nambiar's submission to his erstwhile prodigy Rajeev Chandrashekhar for an out-of-court settlement, Rajeev Chandrashekhar is believed to offloading a 49 per cent stake in BPL Communications.

The only possible way of offloading of BPL Communications LTD stake by Rajeev Chandrashekhar seems imminent as, over the last couple of months, he has been aggressively pursuing selling off 49 per cent of his 64 per cent stake in the company to a strategic buyer. For record noted that, Rajeev Chandrashekhar has talked with other operators including AFK Sistema, China Mobile and Orascom Telecom.

With regard to the scanty details about the settlement which filtered out over the weekend, sources in the know-how suggest that under the settlement, MR Nambiar has agreed to accept a financial package valued on par with his holding stake of seven per cent in BPL Communications. Currently, independent consultants have put a price tag of RS 4,600 Crores to BPL's telecom empire which reels under a debt of RS 1,900 Crores

Accordingly, the sale is now in the final stretch, MR Chandrashekhar has been in talks with several telecom operators. Essar Teleholdings LTD and Idea Cellular are seen as the two leading suitors for BPL Communications. Essar Teleholdings already holds nearly 10 per cent in BPL Mobile, the Mumbai operation. Idea Cellular, whose plans to offload a 47 per cent stake to Singapore Technologies Telemedia and Telecom Malaysia fell through last month, is also specifically interested in BPL, as Idea does not have a presence in Mumbai.

Late last week MR Nambiar withdrew his petition from the Company Law Board, in Chennai which was filed in September 2004 restraining MR Chandrashekhar from selling any shares of the group's flagship company BPL Communications. In his petition, MR Nambiar had accused MR Chandrashekhar of maneuvering the shareholding pattern of BPL Communications in a manner that allowed MR Chandrashekar to enjoy a controlling stake in the company.