Bharti Airtel gets SEBI and stock exchange nod for Telenor acquisition

Bharti Airtel said it received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, BSE and National Stock Exchange of India for its proposed merger with Telenor India.

Bharti Airtel further stated that Telenor India and Airtel have today filed the joint company application before the New Delhi Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal for approval of the proposed Scheme of merger.

The merger requires other statutory approvals including from the Competition Commission of India.

India’s largest telco by revenue, Airtel, had earlier announced (February 23, 2017) that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Telenor South Asia Investments to acquire Telenor India’s running operations in seven circles – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam.

“These circles represent a high population concentration and therefore offer a high potential for growth,” Bharti Airtel said.

The proposed acquisition will include transfer of all of Telenor India’s assets and customers, further augmenting Airtel’s overall customer base and network. It will also enable Airtel to further bolster its strong spectrum foot-print in these seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.